A/N: The scene at the council is mixed with the book and the movie. So I have an excerpt from the script and the book. Mostly from the book because I love the way the scene goes in the book! Also because Legolas has a speech in it about Gollum! :) I have so much of the book here just for the benefit of those who have not read the book so that they may receive a taste of Tolkien's style and some backround information. Now, you must keep an eye on the quotations for I did it the "English class way" and single quoted speakers in the book excerpt, but I also ended lines with quotes to show the end of the excerpt to write in Nimue's perspective. So, there will be no confusion of thinking Nimue was part of the book. :)

The Council at Rivendell

Legolas and Nimue's spirits rose as they gazed upon the home of Lord Elrond. They had reached Rivendell at last. Their horses grew anxious with anticipation, knowing that they would soon be in the care of the horse-hands at Elrond's stables after such a harrowing journey.



Legolas' horse bounded to the main gate. The prince quickly dismounted and gazed about him in quiet awe, taking in the beauty of Rivendell. Nimue had ridden beside him and had also dismounted. She was now stroking the horse, telling it to be good while at Elrond's stables. The stable-hands soon came and took the horses, then Legolas and Nimue proceeded up the steps to the main gate and walked through.

They walked into great shimmering hall, many of them open to balconies that overlooked the lush valley. The two elves were soon given rooms and were separated for a time.

Legolas was walking down the corridor towards Lord Elrond's chambers when he encountered an old friend.

"Aragorn!"

The heir of Isildur smiled and embraced the elf.

"Legolas!"

"How are you?"

"I am well, and you?"

"I am well."

"What are you doing here?"

"I bring tidings from my father for Lord Elrond."

"Well, you shall have the chance to speak with him at the council later today."

Legolas tilted his head. "Council? What for?"

"Surely you have heard!" Aragorn said with surprise, "The council concerning what to do with . . the One Ring."

"Isildur's Bane!" Legolas exclaimed.

"Yes," Aragorn replied, a worn look coming upon his face, though it soon disappeared when the ranger caught sight of Arwen coming down the hall behind Legolas.

"Ah! Legolas!" she cried giving him a gracefull hug, "it is good to see you again!"

"It is good to see you again as well, Lady Arwen."

Arwen then moved to stand at Aragorn's side. It was then that Legolas noticed something shimmering inside Aragorn's open collar. As he looked harder he realised that it was Arwen's Evenstar. He looked up at Arwen, concern written on his face.

Arwen read his facial expression which asked her if she really wanted to do this and she nodded. Love and determination shone in her eyes. Legolas smiled, saddened but at the same time he was happy for them. He grasped Aragorn's arm in a firm shake and embraced Arwen once more.

"I wish you both happiness to the full!"

"Hannaid," said Aragorn. (Thankyou)

Nimue had been walking among the gardens when she heard the bell. She had heard something about a council but did not know what it was about. As the summons rang through Rivendell, Nimue picked up the skirts of her gown, which she had been given to wear whilst she remained in Elronds house, and ran towards the doorway. Now, she wasn't called to attend the council but that wouldn't prevent her from listening.

She stopped an elf with dark hair like Lord Elrond's, who had been walking down the corridor.

"Mas i'ovaded?" (Where is the meeting?)

"Aphado nin, I am going there myself." (Follow me) Nimue did, and soon they got to talking.

"Man eneth lin?" The elf asked as they strode through the hall. (What is your name?)

"Nimue Elenath I eneth nin , daughter of Eohric, Swordmaster of Mirkwood. Yours?" (My name is . .)

"Elladan, son of Lord Elrond the half-elven, king of Imladris."

"Oh! I am very pleased to meet you, my lord."

"And it was a pleasure meeting you," Elladan said bowing to Nimue then walking out into the council area, which they had just reached.

Nimue took a peek at the gathering and looked upon it with wonder. Men, Dwarves, to her disgust, Elves, and what surprisingly appeared to be a child. After close scrutiny she realised that he was very small adult of some race she had never seen before. "Of what race is he?" She whispered to herself.

"He's a hobbit, madam."

Nimue whirled around to find a similar being, though much older, standing before her. "A-a what?" Nimue was quite taken aback. Why hadn't she heard him coming?

"A hobbit," he repeated.

"I have never heard of such a race."

"Well, we tend to be a quiet folk, not many know of us. To the Middle Earth at large we are known as halflings."

"Ah . ." Nimue said nodding her head.

"Bilbo Baggins, at your service madam," the elderly gentleman said with a sweeping bow.

"Nimue Elenath, at yours."

Bilbo nodded his head again then gestured to the hobbit that Nimue had been watching. "That is my nephew, Frodo Baggins. He brought my- the Ring here."

Nimue's head suddenly turned at the sound of his voice, which had strangely changed for a moment at his mention of the Ring. A shadow flicked across his face then was soon gone, replaced once again by his genial smile.

"The One Ring?" Nimue said, throughly startled by it all.

"Bilbo," came Elrond's voice from outside, "the council is about to begin."

"I am coming!" He called, then with a quick good-bye and a wink he said, "'Twas a pleasure meeting you madam," and spryly scuttled out.

Nimue took one last glimpse at the assembly and spotted a wisened old man sitting down beside Bilbo and Frodo. His long silvery hair reached past his shoulders which was covered by a weather-stained green robe. He also had a long gray beard and mustache. His eyes shone with sagacity and his face was careworn.

"Mithrandir!" (Elves' and the people of Gondor's name for Gandalf) Nimue held this wise wizard in the deepest respect and was delighted to see him again after so many long years. Then, she spotted Legolas sitting among a few other elves. His expression was intense and concern was etched on his face.

Nimue sat down near the door with her back to the wall; her sharp ears tuning to the conversation.

Elrond spoke first:

"'You have done well to come,' said Elrond. 'You will hear today all that you need in order to understand the purposes of the Enemy. There is naught that you can do, other than resist, with hope or without it. But you do not stand alone. You will learn that your trouble is part of the trouble of all the western world. The Ring! What shall we do with the Ring, the least of the rings, the trifle that Sauron fancies? That is the doom we must deem.

'That is the purpose for which you are called hither. Called I say, though I have no called you to me, strangers from distant lands. You have come and are here met, in the very nick of time, by chance as it may seem. Yet it is not so. Believe rather that it is ordered that we, who sit here, and none others, must now find counsel for the peril of the world.

'Now, therefore, things shall be openly spoken that have been hidden from all but a few until this day. And first, so that all may understand what is the peril, the Tale of the Ring shall be told from the beginning even to this present. And I will begin that tale, though others shall end it.'"

. . . There Nimue's mind wandered and she paid no heed, for she knew the story of the origins of the ring. Her own thoughts after a few minutes were broken by Frodo's voice.

"'You remember?' said Frodo, speaking his thought aloud in his astonishment."

Nimue wondered what Frodo was referring to and gave her full attention to the council once more.

"'But I thought,' he stammered as Elrond turned towards him, 'I thought that the fall of Gil-galad was a long age ago.'

'So it was indeed,' answered Elrond gravely. 'But my memory reaches back even to the Elder Days. Earendil was my sire, who was born in Gondolin before its fall; and my mother was Elwing, daughter of Dior, son of Luthien of Doriath. I have seen three ages in the West of the world, and many defeats, and many fruitless victories.

'I was the herald of Gil-galad and marched with his host. I was at the Battle of Dagorlad before the Black Gate of Mordor, where we had the mastery: for the Spear of Gil-galad and the Sword of Elendil, Aiglos and Narsil, none could withstand. I beheld the last combat on the slopes of Orodruin, where Gil-galad died, and Elendil fell, and Narsil broke beneath him; but Sauron himself was overthrown, and Isildur cut the Ring from his hand with the hilt-shard of his father's sword, and took it for his own.'

At this the strange, Boromir, broke in. 'So that is what became of the Ring!' he cried. 'If ever such a tale was told in the South, it has long been forgotten. I have heard of the Great Ring of him that we do not name; but we believed that it perished from the world in the ruin of his first realm. Isildur took it! That is tidings indeed.'

'Alas! yes,' said Elrond. 'Isildur took it, as should not have been. It should have been cast then into Orodruin's fire nigh at hand where it was made. But few marked what Isildur did. He alone stood be his father in that last mortal contest; and by Gil-galad only Cirdan stood, and I. But Isildur would not listen to our council.

""This I will have as weregild for my father, and my brother,' he said; and therefore whether we would or no, he took it to treasure it. But soon he was betrayed by it to his death; and so it is named in the North Isildur's Bane. Yet death maybe was better than what else might have befallen him.

'Only to the North did these tidings come, and to only a few. Small wonder it is that you have not heard them, Boromir. From the ruin of the Gladden Fields, where Isildur perished, three men only came ever back over the mountains long after wandering. One of these was Ohtar, the esquire of Isildur, who bore the shards of the sword of Elendil; and he brought them to Valandil, the heir of Isildur, who being but a child had remained here in Rivendell. But Narsil was broken and its light extinguished, and it has not yet been forged again.

'Fruitless did I call the victory of the Last Alliance? Not wholly so, yet it did not achieve its end. Sauron was diminished, but not destroyed. His Ring was not unmade. The Dark Tower was broken, but its foundations were not removed; for they were made with the power of the Ring, and while it remains they will endure. Many Elves and many mighty Men and many of their friends, had perished in the war. Anarion was slain, Isildur was slain; and Gil-galad and Elendil were no more. Never again shall there be any such league of Elves and Men; for Men multilply and the Firstborn decrease, and the two kindreds are estranged. And ever since that day the race of Numenor has decayed, and the span of their years has lessened.

'In the North after the war and the slaughter of the Gladden Fields the Men of Westernesse were diminished, and their city of Annuminas beside Lake Evendim fell into ruin; and the heirs of Valandil removed and dwelt at Fornost on the high North Downs, and that now too is desolate. Men call it Deadmen's Dike, and they fear to tread there. For the folk of Arnor dwindled, and their foes devoured them, and their lordship passed, leaving only green mounds in the grassy hills.

'In the South the realm of Gondor long endured; and for a while its splendour grew, recalling somewhat of the might of Numenor, ere it fell. High towers that people built, and strong places, and havens of many ships; and the winged crown of the Kings of Men was held in awe by folk of many tongues. Their chief city was Osgiliath, Citadel of the Stars, through the midst of which the River flowed. And Minas Ithil they built, Tower of the Rising Moon, eastward upon a shoulder of the Mountains of Shadow; and westward at the feet of the White Mountains of Minas Anor they a white Tower of the Setting Sun. There in the courts of the King grew a white tree, from the seed of that tree which Isildur brought over the deep waters, and the seed of that tree before came from Eressea, and before that out of the Uttermost West in the Day before days when the world was young.

'But in the wearing of the swift years of Middle-earth the line of Meneldil son of Anarion failed, and the Tree withered, and the blood of the Numenoreans became mingled with that of lesser men. Then the watch upon the walls of Mordor slept, and dark things crept back to Gorgoroth. And on a time evil things came forth, and they took Minas Ithil and abode in it, and they made it into a place of dread; and it is called Minas Morgul, the Tower of Sorcery. Then Minas Anor was named anew Minas Tirith, the Tower of Guard' and these two cities were ever at war, but Osgiliath which lay between was deserted and in its ruins shadows walked.

'So it has been for many lives of men. But the Lords of Minas Tirith still fight on, defying our enemies, keeping the passage of the River from Argonath to the Sea. And now that part of the tale that I shall tell is drawn to its close. For in the days of Isildur the Ruling Ring passed out of all knowledge, and the Three were released from its dominion. But now in this latter day they are in peril once more, for to our sorrow the One has been found. Others shall speak of its finding, for in that I played a small part.'

He ceased, but at once Boromir stood up, tall and proud, before them.

'Give me leave, Master Elrond,' said he, 'first to say more of Gondor, for verily the land of Gondor I am come. And it would be well for all to know what passes there . . .'"

Here again Nimue's mind drifted, for the faring of Gondor was not of her concern and she did not have must interest in it. Though, she did have a sense of foreboding when it came to Boromir, but she did not know why.

Soon Nimue heard a poem issuing forth from Boromir's lips that brought her attention back.



"'Seek for the Sword that was broken:

In Imladris it dwells;

There shall be counsels taken

Stronger than Morgul-spells.

There shall be shown a token

That Doom is near at hand,

For Isildur's Bane shall waken,

And the Halfling forth shall stand.

Of these words we could understand little, and we spoke to our father, Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith, wise in the lore of Gondor, This only he would say, that Imladris was of old the name among the Elves of a far northern dale, where Elrond the Halfelven dwelt, greatest of lore-masters. Therefore my brother, seeing how desparate was our need, was eager to heed the dream and seek for Imladris; but since the way was full of doubt and danger, I took the journey upon myself. Loth was my father to give me leave, and long have I wandered by roads forgotten, seeking the house of Elrond, of which many had heard, but few knew where it lay.'



'And here in the house of Elrond more shall be made clear to you.' said Aragorn standing up. He cast his sword upon the table that stood before Elrond, and the blade was in two pieces. 'Here is the Sword that was Broken!' he said.

'And who are you, and what have you to do with Minas Tirith?' asked Boromir, looking in wonder at the lean face of the Ranger and his weather-stained cloak.

'He is Aragorn son of Arathorn,' said Elrond; 'and he is descended through many fathers from Isildur Elendil's son of Minas Ithil. He is the Cheif of the Dunedain in the North, and few are now left of that folk.'

'Then it belongs to you, and not to me at all!' cried Frodo in amazement, springing to his feet, as if he expected the Ring to be demanded at once.

'It does not belong to either of us,' said Aragorn, 'but it has been ordained that you should hold it for a while.'

'Bring out the Ring, Frodo!' said Gandalf solemnly. 'The time has come. Hold it up, and then Boromir will understand the remainder of his riddle.'"

Nimue dared to look out from the shelter of the doorway once more. For she very much desired to catch a glimpse of this Ring that had thrown the whole of Middle Earth into turmoil.

"There was a hush, and all turned their eyes on Frodo. He was shaken by a sudden shame and fear; and he felt a great reluctance to reveal the Ring, and a loathing of its touch. He wished he was far away. The Ring gleamed and flickered as he held it up before them in his trembling hand.

'Behold Isildur's Bane!' said Elrond.

Boromir's eyes glinted as he gazed at the golden thing. 'The Halfling!' he muttered." He soon said something else about the doom of Gondor but Nimue did not hear for suddenly whispers came to her ears that she only seemed to hear. They were whispers with enticing voices, speaking something of . . Mirkwood. Her mind soon went to thinking, visualizing herself with the Ring. The leaves of Mirkwood would be green again by its power, the forest will be pulled free of the darkness, its name restored to that of Greenwood. Lastly the whispers spoke of something else . . . Legolas. Suddenly the spell by Bilbo who suddenly spoke up. Nimue shook her head, clearing her earlier thoughts from her head.

"'All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken:

The crownless again shall be king.

'Not very good perhaps, but to the point-- if you need more beyond the word of Elrond. If that was worth a journey of a hundred and ten days to hear, you had best listen to it.' He sat down with a snort.

'I made that up myself,'" Nimue heard him whisper to Frodo, "'for the Dunadan, a long time ago when he first told me about himself. I almost wish that my adventures were not over, and that I could go with him when his day comes.'

Aragorn smiled at him; then he turned to Boromir again. 'For my part I forgive your doubt,' he said. 'Little do I resemble the figures of Elendil and Isildur as they stand carven in their majesty in the halls of Denethor. I am but the heir of Isildur, not Isildur himself. I have had a hard life and a long; and the leagues that lie between here and Gondor are a small part in the count of my journeys. I have crossed many mountains and many rivers, and trodden many plains, even into the far countries of Rhun and Harad where the stars are strange.

'But my home, such as I have, is in the North. For here the heirs of Valandil have ever dwelt in long lone unbroken from father unto son for many generations. Our days have darkened, and we have dwindled; but ever the Sword has passed to a new keeper. And this I will say to you, Boromir, ere I end. Lonely men are we, Rangers of the wild, hunters-- but hunters ever the servants of the Enemy; for they are found in many places, not in Mordor only.

'If Gondor, Boromir, has been a stalwart tower, we have played another part. Many evil things there are that your strong walls and bright swords do not stay. You know little of the lands beyond you bounds. Peace and freedom, do you say? The North would have known them little but for us. Fear would have destroyed them. But when dark things come from the houseless hills, or creep from sunless woods, they fly from us. What roads would any dare to tread, what saftey would there be in quiet lands, or in the homes of simple men at night if the Dunedain were asleep, or were all gone into the grave?

'And yet less thanks have we than you. Travellers scowl at us, and countrymen give us scornful names. "Strider" I am to one fat man who lives withing a day's march of foes that would freeze his heart, or lay his little town in ruin. If simple folk are free from care and fear, simple they will be, and we must be secret to keep them so. That has been the task of my kindred, while the years have lengthened and the grass has grown.

'But now the world is changing once again. A new hour comes. Isildur's Bane is found. Battle is at hand. The Sword shall be reforged. I will come to Minas Tirith.'

'Isildur's Bane is found, you say,' said Boromir. 'I have seen a bright ring in the Halfling's hand; but Isildur perished ere this age of the world began, they say. How do the Wise know that his ring is his? And how has it passed down the years, until it is brought hither by so strange a messenger?'

'That shall be told,' said Elrond.

'But not yet, I beg, Master!' said Bilbo. 'Already the Sun is climbing to noon, and I feel the need of something to strengthen me.'

'I had not named you,' said Elrond smiling. 'But I do so now. Come! Tell us your tale. And if you have not yet cast your story into verse, you may tell it in plain words. The briefer, the sooner shall you be refreshed.'

'Very well,' said Bilbo. 'I will do as you bid. But I will now tell the true story, and if some here have heard me tell it otherwise'-- he looked sidelong at Gloin-- 'I ask them to forget it and forgive me. I only wished to claime the treasure as my own in those days, and be rid of the name of thief that was put on me. But perhaps I understand things a little better now. Anyway, this is what happened.'

To some there Bilbo's tale was wholly new," for example, Nimue, "and they listened with amazement while the old hobbit, actually not at all displeased, recounted his adventure with Gollum, at full length. He did not omit a single riddle. He would have given also an account of his party and disappearance from the Shire, if he had been allowed; but Elrond raised his hand.

'Well told, my friend,' he said, 'but that is enough at this time. For the moment it suffices to know that the Ring passed to Frodo, your heir. Let him now speak!'

Then, less willingly than Bilbo, Frodo told of all his dealings with the Ring from the day it passed into his keeping. Every step of his journey from Hobbiton to the Ford at Bruinen was questioned and considered, and everything that he could recall concerning the Black Riders was examined. At last he sat down again.

'Not bad,' Bilbo said to him. 'You would have made a good story of it, if they hadn't kept interrupting. I tried to make a few notes, but we shall have to go over it all again together some time, if I am to write it up. There are whole chapters of stuff before you ever got here!'

'Yes, it made quite a long tale,' answered Frodo. 'But the story still does not seem complete to me. I still want to know a good deal, especially about Gandalf.'

Galdor of the Havens, who sat near by, overheard him. 'You speak for me also,' he cried, and turning to Elrond he said: 'The Wise have good reason to believe that the halfling's trove is indeed the Great Ring of long debate, unlikely though that may seem to those who know less. But may we not hear the proofs? And I would ask this also. What of Saruman? He is learned in the lore of the Rings, yet he is not among us. What is his counsel-- if he knows the things that we have heard?'

'The questions that you ask, Galdor, are bound together,' said Elrond. 'I had not overlooked them, and they shall be answered. But these things it is the part of Gandalf to make clea; and I call upon him last, for it is the place of honour, and in all this matter he has been chief.'

'Some, Galdor,' said Gandalf, 'would thing the tidings of Gloin, and the pursuit of Frodo, proof enough that the halfling's trove is a thing of great worth to the Enemy. Yet it is a ring. What then? The Nine of the Nazgul keep. The Seven are taken or destroyed.' At this Gloin stirred, but did not speak. 'The Three we know of. When then is this one that he desires so much?

'There is indeed a wide waste of time between the River and the Mountain, between the loss and the finding. But the gap in the knowledge of the Wise has been filled at last. Yet too slowly. For the Enemy has been close behind, closer even than I feared. ANd well is it that not until this year, this very summer, as it seems, did her learn the full truth.

'Some here will remember that many years ago I myself dared to pass the door of the Necromancer in Dol Guldur, and secretly explored his ways, and found thus that our fears were true: he was none other than Sauron, our Enemy of old, at length taking shape and power again. Some, too, will remember also that Saruman dissuaded us from open deeds against him, and for long we watched him only. Yet, at last, as his shadow grew, Saruman yielded, and the Council put forth its strength and drove the evil out of Mirkwood-- and tha twas in the very year of the finding of this Ring: a strange chance it was . .'"

The council went on and Nimue reflected on Mirkwood as Gandalf spoke. Soon Ganalf went to talking of what he uncovered of the history of The Ring in some old scrolls from Minas Tirith.

'And after these words Isildur described the Ringm such as he found it.\



It was hot when I first took it, hot as a glede, and my hand was scorched so that I doubt if ever again I shall be free of the pain of it. Yet even as I write itis cooled, and it seemeth to shrink, though it loseth neither its beauty nor its shape. Already the writing upon it, which at first was as clear as red flame, fadeth and is now only barely to be read. It is fashioned in an elvenscript of Eregion, for they have no letters in Mordor for such subtle work; but the language is unknown to me. I deem it to be a tongue of the Black Land, since it is foul and uncouth. What evil it saith I do not know; but I trace here a coby of it, lest it fade beyond recall. The Ring misseth, maybe, the heat of Sauron's hand, which was black yet burned like fire, and so Gil-galad was destroyed; and maybe were the gold made hot again, the writing would be refreshed. But for my part I will risk no hurt to this thing: of all the works of Sauron the only fair. It is precious to me, though I buy it with great pain.'"

. . . "'Upon this very ring which you have here seen held aloft, round and unadorned, the letters that Isildur reported may still be read, if one has the strength of will to set the golden thing in the fire a while. That I have done, and this I have read:

Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatuluk

agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.'

The change in the wizard's voice was astounding. Suddenly it became menacing, powerfull, harsh as stone. A shadow seemed to pass over the high sun, and the porch for a moment grew dark. All trembled, and the Elves stopped their ears.'"

The same was with Nimue. At the words, she trembled, and for the first time in her life quailed, and curled up into a ball with her hands over her ears, trying to block out the horrible Black Speech.

"'Never before has any voice dared to utter words of that tongue in Imladris, Gandalf the Grey,' said Elrond, as the shadow passed and the company breathed once more.

'And let us hope that none will ever speak it here again,' answered Gandalf."

Gandalf then translated the Black words to them:

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,

One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

Soon the conversation turned to that of Gollum. To Nimue's wonder, her ears delighted in the sound of the next voice:

"'Alas! Alas!' Cried Legolas, and in his fair elvish face there was great distress. 'The tidings that I was sent to bring must now be told. They are not good, but only here have I learned how evil they may seem to this company. Smeagol, who is now called Gollum, has escaped.'

'Escaped?' cried Aragorn. 'That is ill news indeed. We shall all rue it bitterly, I fear. How came the folk of Thranduil to fail in their trust?'

'Not through lack of watchfulness,' said Legolas; 'but perhaps though over-kindliness. And we fear that the prisoner had aid from others, and that more is known of out doings than we could wish. We guarded this creature day and night, at Gandalf's bidding, much though we wearied of the task. But Gandalf bade us hope still for his cure , and we had not the heart to keep him ever in dungeons under the earth, where he would fall back into his old black thoughts.'

'You were less tender to me,' said Gloin with a flash of his eyes, as old memories were stirred of his imprisonment in the deeo places of the Elven-king's halls.

'Now come!' said Gandalf. 'Pray do not interrupt, my goo Gloin. That was a regrettable misundertanding, long set right. If all grievances that stand between Elves and Dwarves are to be brought up here, we may as well abandon this Council.'

Gloin rose and bowed, and Legolas continued. 'In the days of fair weather we led Gollum through the woods; and there was a high tree standing alone far from the others which he liked to climb. Often we let him mount up to the highest branches, until he felt the free wind; but we set a guard at the tree's foot. One day he refused to come down, and the guards had no mind to climb after him: he had learned the trick of clinging to the boughs with his feet as well as with his hands; so they sat by the tree far into the night.

'It was that very night of summer, yet moonless and starless, that Orcs came on us at unawares. We drove them off after some time; they were many and fierce, but they came from over the mountains, and were unused to the woods. When the battle was over, we found that Gollum was gone, and his guards were slain or taken. It then seemed plain to us that the attack had been made for his rescue, and that he knew of it beforehand. How that was contrived we cannot guess; but Gollum is cunning, and the spies of the Enemy are mant. The dark things that were drieven out in the year of the Dragon's fall have returned in greater numbers, and Mirkwood is again an evil place, save where our realm is maintained.

'We have failed to recapture Gollum. We came on his trail among those of many Orcs, and it plunged deep into the Forest, going south. But ere long it escaped our skill, and we dared not continue to hunt; for we were drawing nigh to Dol Guldur, and that is still a very evil place; we do not go that way.'

'Well, well, he is gone,' said Gandalf. 'We have no time to seek for him again. He must do what he will. But he may play a part yet that neither he nor Sauron have foreseen.'"

Gandalf now went on to tell of his encounter with the painful betrayal of Saruman.

Soon there came the decsion of who will take the ring to Mordor, to be cast into the fires or Orodruin. Many voices rose forth all shouting in disagreement. Nimue heard Legolas' voice Galdor's voice protesting the dwarves involvement.

Suddenly, Nimue heard the small voice of Frodo speak through the chaotic bickering:

"I will take it!"

The Council suddenly went silent and all turned to look a Frodo. "'I will take the Ring,' he said, 'though I do not know the way.'

Elrond raised his eyes and looked at him and Frode felt his heart pierce with the sudden keeness of the glance. 'If I understand aright all that I have heard,' he said, 'I think that this task is appointed for you, Frodo; and that if you do not find a way, no one will.'" . . .

"'But you won't send him off alone surely, Master?' cried Sam, unable to contain himself any longer, and jumping up from the corner where he himself had been sitting quietly on the floor.

'No indeed!' said Elrond, turning towards him with a smile. 'You at least shall go with him. It is hardly possible to separate you from him, even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not.'

Sam sat down, blushing and muttering. 'A nice pickle we have landed ourselves in, Mr. Frodo!' he said, shaking his head."

Gandalf came to Frodo and put his hand on his shoulder.

"'I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, so long as it is yours to bear.' Then Aragorn rose and knelt before Frodo. "'If by my life or death, I can protect you, I will. You have my sword.'"

Nimue heard Legolas rise and her heart was suddenly gripped in fear.

"'And you have my bow.'"

Nimue felt as if her whole world was crashing down around her. She realized the direness of the situation. An elf can be killed in battle and from the scenario of the journey at least a hundred battles seemed to be in view for the ones setting out. Nimue was so distracted by her thoughts she did not hear Gimli, Gloin's son say:

"'And my ax!'" Boromir then walked up. "'You carry the fates of us all little one. If this is indeed the will of the council, then Gondor will see it done.'" Suddenly two blond curly heads rushed past Nimue shouting:



"'Wait! We are coming too!'" It was Frodo's two other companions Meriadoc and Peregrin.

"'You'd have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us!'" said Merry.

"'Anyway,'" put forth Pippin, "'you need people of intelligence on this sort of mission . . quest . . thing.

Merry turned to his friend, "'Well that rules you out Pip.'"

Elrond then declared: "'Nine companions... So be it! You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring!'"

"'Great!'" said Pippin, "'Where are we going?'"



Nimue had run to her room right after Pippin and Merry rushed past her. She threw herself on her bed and began to cry.