DISCLAIMER:
New disclaimer. I only own Gimshe and Hantor. Sealbeth is, I'm guessing, property of New Line Cinema. Check at the end of this chapter for where I got the info on him. I'm not sure who he belongs too, to tell you the truth. Everyone and everywhere else belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien.
Series:
None.
Spoilers:
See chapter one
A/N: You guys are so nice to review quickly! I know, I know, I have to write longer chapters…but it'd been so long since I'd posted last I figured you would want to read what I had and comment on it. So. Here are my answers to a few reviewers from chapter five…skip if you want to get straight to the chapter.
Arabella Thorne: Where did you get that age number from? I've been looking for reliable information about Elrond for YEARS!! If you could, please tell me I'd really appreciate it, so I would have to guess so much. I looked up in the appendixes, but it only talks about the second and third ages, which were both roughly three thousand years long. I figured since he was born pretty much in the middle and/or beginning of the first age he'd be around eight thousand years old. I think I read somewhere that he was nine thousand when he left for the Gray Havens but who knows if that was correct…*shrugs* It's guess work for the elves a lot of the time. Tolkien didn't give them enough lime light *grin.*
The Mouth of Sauron: I know the twins are your favorite characters, and I didn't mean to make them seem like crazed animal murderers. What I was getting at was my little eco system hypothesis: in and around Rivendell it makes sense that there would be a lot of animals, possibly more than the area could support, because of the protection extended from the elves' power. With so much meat the predators (wolves, bears, mountain lions, etc.) would have plenty to eat, and few would die of starvation. They would also hunt the area to near extinction unless someone hunted them. The twins were merely helping keep both the predator and prey populations manageable. It's been shown that hunters will clear out a place of all prey and then their large numbers will slowly starve to death until the prey population grows again. This was not meant as an insult to those characters, but as something the elves might have had to do. It's also quite possible that I'm wrong, that the elves didn't interfere with the local eco system, but it's just my opinion of what might have happened.
FickleFemale: The elves are speaking Sindarin, so far as I can tell. Sindarin was sort of the equivalent of today's modern English, whilst Quenya, language of the High Elves, was more like Elizabethan English—but harder to translate. "Lasto beth nin tolo dan na ngalad," comes from the movie. I looked it up and it was Sindarin.
To Anonymous Reviewer: I'm sorry you feel I've done a crummy job with this story, and that I don't live up to the original, but please keep in mind that I do not have the skill to write as well as Tolkien did, and that indeed few people do. If you are looking for some truly wonderful stories that stick to the book fantastically well, look up "Nemis" and "Cassia" on Fanfiction.net. Both of them have wonderful stories. And what, exactly, didn't you like about it? I'd like to know. If you read this, do send me a review and tell me what you didn't like.
Enough talk on my part. On to the story!
PS. One last note. I decided to do the Council of Elrond similar to the movie, because of the length of the book's version. Hope you don't mind!
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Three Rings for the Elven-Kings
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Chapter Six
The Council and the Dwarf
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
"Come now, Endara. He only drugged you once." Legolas' sleepy voice was amused at Endara's pique.
"No, he did it twice."
"Once was Glorfindel knocking you out."
"Yes, and when I woke up Lord Elrond gave me a glass of tea and drugged me!"
"You needed it, youngling," Elrond commented with extreme dryness as he entered the room. It was later that evening, and after a joyous reunion, Endara was, predictably, impossible to get away from his lord for more than a few moments. "One more day and you would have been dead from exhaustion."
Endara flushed but had no answer. Legolas chuckled again and rested back against the soft pillows. Elrond bent over him and touched his hand, the left one. "How does it feel?" he asked quietly.
"Good. There is no pain, but it is stiff."
Elrond nodded and straightened up. There was a touch of transparent-ness about Legolas, especially the left arm and shoulder, but all it showed was a clean, healthy white glow to eyes that were trained to see. There were no lines of black or sickly green. "You have a visitor," he added with a smile.
Legolas' eyes widened and Endara jumped to his feet as the old man moved into the room. "Mithrandir!"
"Yes, it is I," Mithrandir answered wryly, sitting himself down on a chair next to Legolas' bedside. "And you are lucky to be here after all the ridiculous things you have done." Elrond snuck up behind Endara, who was watching the old wizard with rapture, and gently put his hand on the younger elf's head. Endara sighed and his eyes glazed, falling back into Elrond's arms. Legolas laughed lightly.
"He will not be pleased," Mithrandir said with amusement to Elrond, who was lifting Endara into his arms as though the elf weighed little more than a young child.
"That," the elf-lord replied with finality, "is his problem." And he left the room.
Legolas chuckled and closed his eyes briefly. "I'm so glad you came, Mithrandir. I was worried when I could not find you at Mirkwood's northern border."
Gandalf looked down at the elf, who was to him little more than a child, and nodded gravely. "I am sorry, Legolas, that I could not meet you." Legolas just looked at him. "I was delayed," he added.
"Delayed?"
Gandalf closed his eyes briefly in turn and nodded slightly, caught up in some memory. "Yes."
"Mithrandir?"
Gandalf opened his eyes and smiled. "I am glad you are well, young prince." He chuckled slightly. "I can remember back when you were just a little elfling, tagging along behind me like a love-sick puppy."
Legolas laughed and blushed. "You were my only friend who would talk back," Legolas answered. "Because I was the 'Prince' of Mirkwood, the 'Heir' to the throne no one was ever honest with me. I think I would have grown up a brat if not for you."
"You think?" Mithrandir retorted, and Legolas laughed.
"Rest, young elf," Elrond said sternly, returning. "And you, Gandalf…do not talk him to death, healer's orders. I am calling a council tomorrow, and he must be rested enough to come."
Gandalf chuckled. "Very well, o Lord of Imladris."
Elrond shot him an ironic look and walked from the room. "Sleep," he said firmly, and closed the door.
"I suppose that ends the matter." Gandalf sighed and heaved himself up. "Good night, elfling."
Legolas smiled. "Good night, Mithrandir."
* * * *
"Strangers from distant lands, friends of old. You have been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle-Earth stands upon the brink of destruction—none can escape it. You will unite or you will fall." Elrond surveyed the grim faces before him. "Bring forth the Ring, Legolas."
Slowly, Legolas stood and walked across the patio and placed the Ring on the pedestal. He struggled with himself briefly to release the Ring, and when he returned to his seat between Gandalf and Glorfindel his face was ashen. Gandalf shot him a quick look of concern.
The Council was muttering darkly, surveying the Ring with eager eyes. "It is a gift," one man said suddenly, standing up.
Legolas glanced at him, tiny, pearl-like drops of cold sweat beading his forehead, and wondered how man had become so stupid. He had not the breath to respond, though, and instead leaned against the back of his chair, refusing to look at the Ring.
"A gift to the foes of Mordor!" he proclaimed, and then went on with a certain air about him that spoke of arrogance. "Why not use the Ring? Long has my father, the Steward of Gondor kept the forces of Mordor at bay—by the blood of our people are your lands kept safe!"
Legolas saw Aragorn's face twitch in annoyance and hid a smile. Aragorn had always resented the Gondorian attitude that they knew and did everything.
"Give Gondor the weapon of the Enemy—let us use it against him!"
"You cannot wield it," Aragorn said in a quiet voice that, nevertheless, filled the clearing. "None of us can," he added as the Gondorian, Boromir by all likely-hood, turned to glare at him. Legolas' lips twitched with irritation. He'd heard of the brave, if rather short-sighed Lord of Gondor. And he did not like his attitude towards Aragorn.
"The Ring answers to Sauron alone—it has no other Master."
"And what," said Boromir, his voice dripping contempt, "would a Ranger know of this matter?"
Anger fizzled in Legolas' chest, warm and certain. He found himself rising to challenge Boromir's words. "This is no mere Ranger," he said loudly, ignoring Aragorn, who was shaking his head at him. "He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance."
Boromir looked briefly stunned. "Aragorn?" He turned to look at the Ranger. "This…is Isildur's Heir?"
"And Heir to the throne of Gondor." Legolas managed to get in one more jibe before Aragorn caught his eye.
"Havo dad, Legolas," Aragorn said softly. Legolas sighed and sat down.
Boromir turned his incredulous and angry glare on Legolas. "Gondor has no king," he declared, and then looked back at Aragorn, his gaze clearly a challenge. "Gondor needs no king."
There was a brief pause as Boromir sat down, still scowling. "Aragorn is right," Gandalf declared. "We cannot use it."
Elrond stood again. "You have only one choice. The Ring must be destroyed."
"Then what are we waiting for?" a dwarf growled, standing up and grabbing one of his fellows axes. With a roar he hefted it over his head and down onto the Ring. Elrond twitched and nearly jumped to his feet, but there was no time to shout a warning.
The ax exploded into ten or fifteen big pieces, shattering like glass. The Ring sat unharmed on the pedestal. Legolas gasped with pain, and squeezed his eyes shut as invisible needles were rammed into his skull. The Eye of Sauron was clear in his mind for an instant, and he flinched.
"The Ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli son of Gloin, by any craft that we here possess." Elrond was speaking again. "It was made in the fires of Mount Doom. Only there can it be unmade. It must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came."
Legolas looked up sharply as the Ring whispered something in the Black Language.
"One of you must do this."
There was a long ominous silence, in which no one would look at another in the Council. Legolas studied the Ring through half-lowered lids, eyes narrowed suspiciously. He jumped when Boromir spoke.
"One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its black gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep. And the great Eye is ever-watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust. The very air that you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with ten thousand men could you do this. It is folly."
"Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond has said?" Erestor demanded, standing. He looked around the Council, dark hair flying. "The Ring must be destroyed!"
Scowling, Gimli jumped up. "And I suppose you think you're the one to do it?"
Erestor glared at the dwarf as Boromir stood. "And if we fail, what then?" cried the human. "What happens when Sauron takes back what is his?"
Gimli roared, "I will be dead before I see the Ring in the hands of an elf!"
That did it. The elves sprang up, towering over the dwarves, both sides arguing fiercely. "No one trust an elf!" Gimli shouted. Erestor put his hand out to prevent another elf from grabbing the dwarf.
Everyone was arguing now. Aragorn and Gandalf were the last to their feet.
"Do you not understand? While you bicker amongst yourselves, Sauron's power grows! None can escape it! You'll all be destroyed!" Gandalf cried.
Legolas looked over at the Ring, sitting innocently on the table, and frowned. Then his eyes widened as the Ring whispered, "Ash nazg durbatuluk, Ash nazg gimbatul, Ash nazg thrakatuluk, Agh burzum-ishi krimpatul!"
The Ring showed the reflection of the Council; even as it spoke the words of the Black Tongue the discord among the races grew. Legolas felt a cold chill as he realized it was the Ring causing the arguments. The reflection of the Council was suddenly encased in fire and Legolas jerked his eyes away from the Ring.
He looked around and stood up. "I will take it!" He had to shout above the racket everyone was making. "I will take it!" Gandalf stopped arguing, followed by the rest, and all turned around to stare at the elven-prince. "I will take the Ring to Mordor," he finished quietly, "though I do not know the way."
Gandalf smiled slightly and came to stand beside him. "I will help you bear this burden, Son of Thranduil, as long as it is yours to bear." Gandalf briefly laid his hand on the princes' shoulder.
Aragorn walked towards them, a slight smile on his normally grave face. "If by my life or death, if I can protect you, I will. You have my sword." He knelt before Legolas, and then rose to stand beside him.
Legolas smiled in relief at his old
friend, and looked over at Elrond, whom Gandalf had just winked at. While he
didn't completely understand the subtle message, he suspected it had something
to do with Aragorn becoming King of Gondor.
"You have my sword," said the
soft-spoken Sealbeth*.
Gimli, the last person Legolas expected to see join, was not to be left out. "And my axe."
The expression on Sealbeth's face was priceless, and Legolas saw Aragorn stifle a smile at the irritation between elves and dwarves.
Boromir slowly advanced upon Legolas. "You carry the fates of us all, my friend." Legolas caught and held the man's glance, making him cringe. But he continued nevertheless. "If this is truly the will of the Council, then Gondor will see it done."
"I, too, will come," said another dwarf, Gimli's brother Gimshe. He stood next to his brother, leaning on his ax and eyeing the elves with distrust.
"You will need a good archer," the Ranger Hantor declared, standing up. "I will travel with you."
"Doro!*" Legolas looked over in surprise as Endara appeared from behind the bush where he had been hiding. He stood up gracefully, brushed a few bits of dirt from his cloak, and came to stand beside his lord. "I will not be left behind," he said more to Legolas than to the Council.
Elrond crooked an eyebrow at that. "No, indeed, it is hardly possible to separate you from him, even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not."
The gentle rebuff made Endara color slightly and Legolas coughed to hide his chuckle, but Elrond's eyes were amused, not angry.
He looked at them. "Nine companions to match the Nine Nazgûl," he said. "So be it! You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring."
*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*
*DISCLAIMER: This character is straight from the movie. I do not pretend to own him. Do not kill me, I do not mean to break any copyright laws. Check out this site: http://groups.msn.com/MrMysteriousElf/sealbeth.msnw for more info about him.
*Doro!=Stop!
Dumdumdaaaa! So what do you all think? The elves and dwarves are going to be immensely fun to mess with and get them bickering. I do know that this is going to cause a domino effect where everything that happened to Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, and Pippin while Frodo and Sam were in Mordor is going to be messed up, but I will do my best to keep it as close to the book as possible. So what do you think, hmm? Good, bad, sucks, great, perfect, horrible, couldn't have been worse? Any helpful criticism? Ideas, comments? I always check my reviews about twice a day so let me know! Thank you!