Chapter 10: Many Meetings

Dawn woke and found herself lying in bed. "Where am I," she wondered.

"In your father's house," said a voice. "It is the morning of October the twenty-fourth, if you want to know."

"Gandalf!" cried Dawn as she sat up.

Gandalf sat beside Buffy next to the open window.

"Yes," Buffy said, "Its Gandalf."

"Yes," Gandalf said. "I am here."

"Where are Willow and Xander?" Dawn asked.

"Will and Xander are resting," Buffy said. "Neither of them wanted to leave your side so we took turns sitting with you."

"What happened at the Ford?" asked Dawn. "It's all hazy."

"Yes, it would," Gandalf said. "You were beginning to become corrupted. The wound was overcoming you at last. A few more hours and you would have been beyond our aid. But you have some strength in you, my dear Ariel! Though I do wish you could have held out at Weathertop."

"I assume you told him everything?" Dawn asked looking at Buffy.

"Willow, Xander and I told him everything, yes," Buffy responded.

"It is no small feat to have come so far, and through such dangers, still bearing the Ring," Gandalf said. And then he sighed. "I was delayed and that nearly proved our ruin. And yet I am not sure: it may have been better so. That said I will tell you everything that happened in good time. You are not supposed to talk or worry about anything today, by both your father and sister/mother's orders."

"But …" Dawn started to say.

"No," Buffy said. "Sleep. Or I'll get Willow to cast a sleep spell on you. You need your rest."

Dawn sighed as she closed her eyes. She heard the door open and close. "Buffy?" she said thinking it had been only Gandalf who had left. When she received no reply, she opened her eyes and noticed she was alone.

Outside Buffy walked beside Gandalf. "Will she be alright?" she asked.

"Your sister/daughter is strong," Gandalf replied, "and Elrond is a master of healing, but the weapons of our Enemy are deadly. To tell you the truth, I had very little hope; for I suspected that there was some fragment of the blade still in the closed wound. But as you know it could not be found until last night. Then Elrond removed a splinter. It was deeply buried, and it was working inwards."

"What were they doing to Dawn?" Buffy asked.

"They tried to pierce her heart with a Morgul-knife. If they had succeeded, I don't want to think of the outcome. I believe because of the Key she could have become a new Dark Lord."

"Would it be best to strip the Key from her then?" Buffy asked.

"Maybe. But I would be hesitant to do so, till you, Dawn, and your friends are returned home once the ring is destroyed," he said.

"You would keep Dawn from her father and Legolas?" Buffy asked.

"The alternative would be to trap you and your friends here for the rest of your lives," Gandalf said. "Which is the lesser of two evils? Trap you all here or separate Dawn from the ones she loves." He looked quickly at Buffy. "Let us revisit that when it is time to make that choice. For now, Ariel is safe. Soon there will be feasting and merrymaking to celebrate the victory at the Ford of Bruinen, and you, your friends and Dawn will all be there in places of honor."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

As the evening drew on, Dawn woke up again and found she was hungry. She got out of bed and discovered that her arm was nearly healed. She found fresh clothes laid out for her and wondered if Buffy had done it or if Elrond had set them aside for her. After she had dressed she looked in the mirror to admire the clothes and was startled at her reflection, or more precisely at how thin she looked.

At that moment there was a knock on the door, and Willow came in. She smiled at Dawn. "I see you found the clothes I laid out for you," she said.

Dawn laughed. "I should have known it was you. I had assumed Buffy or Elrond. Thanks, Will."

"I see you have some color back in your face," Willow said. "And it's good to see you up and about after so long of a time. Gandalf asked me to come and see if you were ready to come down."

"I'm ready,' said Dawn. 'Where is Buffy and Xander?"

"They are waiting for us," Willow answered. She led Dawn along several passages and down many steps and out into a high garden above the steep bank of the river. There they found Buffy and Xander sitting on a porch on the side of the house looking east.

"Dawnie!" cried Xander as he hoped up. He pulled her into an embrace. "As soon as Buffy and Gandalf reported that you were feeling better, Elrond started preparations for a feast."

They were then summoned to a dining hall by the ringing of many bells. The dining hall of Elrond's house was filled with folk: Elves for the most part, though there were a few guests of other sorts. Elrond, as was his custom, sat in a great chair at the end of the long table upon the dais; and next to him on the one side sat Dawn, on the other side sat Gandalf.

Next to Gandalf sat a lady fair to look upon, and so like was she in form of womanhood to Elrond that Dawn guessed that she might be her own half-sister.

"Ariel," Elrond said noting where Dawn was looking. "I would like you to meet your half-sister, Arwen."

Dawn smiled. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Arwen."

"As it is you, Ariel," Arwen said. "Father has told me much about you."

"All good I hope," Dawn said as she smiled at her half-sister.

"Yes," Arwen said.

Dawn was not the only one paying attention to Arwen. Next to Arwen sat Willow who could not take her eyes off the elven lass.

Next to Dawn sat a dwarf she was sure she recognized. She took in his appearance from the way he was dressed to his very long and forked beard and finally to chain that hung around his neck composed of silver and diamonds.

As he turned to face her she smiled as she recognized him, Gloin. "Ariel, it is a pleasure to see you once again," he said. Then he rose from his seat and bowed.

"Hello, Gloin," Dawn said. "How are you and your kin?"

"They are well, Dawn," Gloin said finally calling her by the name she had been introduced to him as, the name that all that knew her still called her when retelling stories about her. "And how are yours?"

Dawn looked to Buffy, who sat next to Willow, and smiled. "My sister/mother is well."

Gloin's gaze followed Dawn's and he nodded in understanding. "Greetings Buffy, sister/mother of Dawn. Your sister/daughter spoke very highly of you when last we saw her."

Buffy looked at Gloin and nodded. "And you as well."

"As I promised Thorin the day that he …" Dawn paused as a tear came to her eye. A moment passed when nothing was said as the two old friends shared a silent moment for their friend who had long since passed into the next life. Finally, Dawn found her voice again. "Your tale and his has been told. I have no children as of yet to pass that tale down too. But my sister/mother and my friends know of you, Thorin and the company and of our adventure in recapturing Erebor from Smaug."

Gloin nodded as he bowed. "I am at your service, Ariel."

"As I am yours, Gloin," Dawn said as she stood and bowed.

"You have had some very strange adventures, I hear," said Glóin. "I wonder greatly what brought you back to Middle Earth. Perhaps though I should not inquire too closely, since Elrond and Gandalf do not seem disposed to talk of this?"

"I think it better to wait till the Council is convened," Dawn said. "Now tell me what brought you from the Lonely Mountain."

"You have been gone a long time," Gloin said. "Let us wait till the Council is convened. There is much that may be told."

"Of course," Dawn said.

Throughout the rest of the meal Dawn, Willow, Buffy and Xander talked with Gloin.

Glóin told of events in the northern regions of Wilderland. And of Grimbeorn the Old, son of Beorn. "Indeed," he said, "if it were not for the Beornings, the passage from Dale to Rivendell would long ago have become impossible. They are valiant men and keep open the High Pass and the Ford of Carrock. But their tolls are high," he added with a shake of his head; "and like Beorn they are not over fond of dwarves. Still, they are trusty, and that is much in these days. Nowhere are there any men so friendly to us as the Men of Dale. They are good folk, the Bardings. The grandson of Bard the Bowman rules them, Brand son of Bain son of Bard. He is a strong king, and his realm now reaches far south and east of Esgaroth."

"And what of Dain's people?" Dawn asked remembering that Dain had succeeded Thorin as King under the mountain.

"There is much to tell, good and bad," said Glóin; "yet it is mostly good: we have so far been fortunate, though we do not escape the shadow of these times. If you really wish to hear of us, I will tell you tidings gladly. But stop me when you are weary! Dwarves' tongues run on when speaking of their handiwork, they say."

And with that Glóin embarked on a long account of the doings of the Dwarf-kingdom. Dáin was still King under the Mountain. Of the ten companions who had survived the Battle of Five Armies seven were still with him: Dwalin, Glóin, Dori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur. Bombur was now so fat that he could not move himself from his couch to his chair at table, and it took six young dwarves to lift him.

"And what has become of Balin and Ori and Óin?" Dawn asked.

A shadow passed over Glóin's face. "We do not know," he answered. "It is largely on account of Balin that I have come to ask the advice of your father."

Dawn nodded. "And as I said when last we saw each other, if you have need to seek my father out and tell him you are my friend and that you would not be turned away," she said as Glóin nodded. "And so, his advice you will have. If they have passed out of this world. You have my deepest condolences."

"Thank you, Dawn," Gloin said. "Let us speak of merrier things!"

Glóin began then to talk of the works of his people, telling them about the great labors in Dale and under the Mountain. "We have done well," he said. "But in metal-work we cannot rival our fathers, many of whose secrets are lost. We make good armor and keen swords, but we cannot again make mail or blade to match those that were made before the dragon came. Only in mining and building have we surpassed the old days. You should see the waterways of Dale, Dawn, and the fountains, and the pools! You should see the stone-paved roads of many colors! And the halls and cavernous streets under the earth with arches carved like trees; and the terraces and towers upon the Mountain's sides! Then you would see that we have not been idle."

Dawn smiled. "Remember I have an open invitation."

"And as Balin said when you left us all those years ago. It will be a splendid feast indeed," Gloin said.

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Next day Dawn woke early, feeling refreshed and well. Sh walked along the terraces above the loud-flowing Bruinen and watched the pale, cool sun rise above the far mountains, and shine down, slanting through the thin silver mist; the dew upon the yellow leaves was glimmering, and the woven nets of gossamer twinkled on every bush. Buffy, Willow and Xander has each wanted to accompany her but she had wished to take the time to familiarize herself with her father's home.

On a seat cut in the stone beside a turn in the path she came upon Gandalf and Elrond deep in talk.

"Morning, my daughter," Elrond said. "Are you ready for the Council?"

"I am ready, father," Dawn answered. "Though truth be told it has been a long time since I was last here and would like time revisit all of Rivendell as time allows."

"You may have a chance later," said Gandalf. "But we cannot make any plans yet. There is much to hear and decide today."

"Gandalf is correct," Elrond said. "In fact, we should head toward the Council now. I will summon, your sister/mother and your friends as well."

Dawn followed Gandalf and Elrond along the winding path back to the house. Elrond led them to a porch where Buffy, Willow and Xander already waited. As Gandalf and Elrond seated themselves Dawn noticed that Glorfindel and Glóin were there as well, that Strider also there. There were others there as well, some Dawn did not recognize, but two that she did. Legolas and Thranduil. Before she could rush over to Legolas Elrond pulled her aside.

"Here, my friends," Elrond said. "Is my youngest daughter, Ariel. Few have ever come hither through greater peril or on an errand more urgent."

Dawn smiled stepped away from her father and to Legolas and Thranduil. "My dear, Legolas, how I've missed you."

"Ariel," Legolas said. "It warms my heart to know that you have returned."

Dawn looked to Thranduil and bowed. "Greetings, Elvenking."

"Greetings, my lady," Thranduil said. "It is a pleasure to see you once again."

Elrond then drew Dawn back to his side as well as Buffy, Willow and Xander. He pointed out and named those whom they had yet to meet. There was a younger dwarf at Glóin's side: his son Gimli. Beside Glorfindel there were several other counsellors of Elrond's household, of whom Erestor was the chief; and with him was Galdor, an Elf from the Grey Havens who had come on an errand from Círdan the Shipwright. And seated a little apart was a tall man with a fair and noble face, dark-haired and grey-eyed, proud and stern of glance.

"Here,' said Elrond, turning to Gandalf, "is Boromir, a man from the South. He arrived in the grey morning and seeks for counsel. I have bidden him to be present, for here his questions will be answered."

There were many things discussed at the Council, and truth be told Dawn tuned most of them out, that is till it was Gloin's turn to speak.

"Father," Dawn interrupted before Gloin had a chance to say a word. "I am sure you remember Gloin from when I accompanied Thorin to Erebor. When last I saw Gloin and the remainder of Thorin's company I told them that if they should ever have need to seek you out and tell you they are my friend. That you would not turn them away."

"Yes," Elrond said as he smiled at Dawn. "I surmised as much." He looked at Gloin. "Any friend of my daughter's is a friend of mine. My advice and anything I have to offer is yours."

"Thank you," Gloin said and he launched into his story. "It is now many years ago, long after Lady Ariel left us to return to her sister/mother, that a shadow of disquiet fell upon our people. Whence it came we did not at first perceive. Words began to be whispered in secret: it was said that we were hemmed in a narrow place, and that greater wealth and splendor would be found in a wider world. Some spoke of Moria: the mighty works of our fathers that are called in our own tongue Khazad-dûm; and they declared that now at last we had the power and numbers to return."

Glóin sighed. 'Moria! Moria! Wonder of the Northern world! Too deep we delved there and woke the nameless fear. Long have its vast mansions lain empty since the children of Durin fled. But now we spoke of it again with longing, and yet with dread; for no dwarf has dared to pass the doors of Khazad-dûm for many lives of kings, save Thrór only, and he perished. At last, however, Balin listened to the whispers, and resolved to go; and though Dáin did not give leave willingly, he took with him Ori and Óinand many of our folk, and they went away south."

"That was nigh on thirty years ago. For a while we had news and it seemed good: messages reported that Moria had been entered and a great work begun there. Then there was silence, and no word has ever come from Moria since. Then about a year ago a messenger came to Dáin, but not from Moria – from Mordor: a horseman in the night, who called Dáin to his gate. The Lord Sauron the Great, so he said, wished for our friendship. Rings he would give for it, such as he gave of old. And he asked urgently concerning Lady Ariel, though he did not call her that. He referred to her by her human name of Dawn Summers and where he might find her. Those of us who know her knew what this might mean and so we gave no answer. Not that we truly knew where she had gone anyways. But he asked us to find Lady Ariel and to her get from her, willing or no, a little ring, the least of rings, that once she stole. It is but a trifle that Sauron fancies, and an earnest of your good will. Find it, and three rings that the Dwarf-sires possessed of old shall be returned to you, and the realm of Moria shall be yours forever. Find only news Lady Ariel, whether she still lives and where, and you shall have great reward and lasting friendship from the Lord. Refuse, and things will not seem so well."

"He asked if we refused. Dain, who remembered Lady Ariel, would say neither yea nor nay. Dain also said that he must consider this message and what it means under its fair cloak. And the man said for Dain to consider well, but not too long and Dain answered, the time of my thought is my own to spend."

'Heavy have the hearts of our chieftains been since that night. We needed not the fell voice of the messenger to warn us that his words held both menace and deceit; for we knew already that the power that has re-entered Mordor has not changed, and ever it betrayed us of old. Twice the messenger has returned and has gone unanswered. The third and last time, so he says, is soon to come, before the ending of the year.

"And so, I have been sent at last by Dáin to warn Lady Ariel that she is sought by the Enemy, and to learn, if may be, why he desires this ring, this least of rings. Also, we crave the advice of Elrond. For the Shadow grows and draws nearer. We discover that messengers have come also to King Brand in Dale, and that he is afraid. We fear that he may yield. Already war is gathering on his eastern borders. If we make no answer, the Enemy may move Men of his rule to assail King Brand, and Dáin also."

"You have done well to come," said Elrond. "And I thank you for your people's unwavering loyalty to my daughter."

"It was Thorin's dying wish that Dawn was to be his friend, not that any of us ever thought otherwise. By Dain's order, Dawn was made an honorary member of Thorin's own house."

"What?" Dawn said, surprised at what had just been said.

Gloin looked at his old friend and smiled. "While you are elven and cannot hold the throne of a dwarf kingdom, Dain made a proclamation that you be considered Thorin's daughter in all but title and blood. And so that is how we see you. You maybe Lady Ariel, daughter of Elrond, daughter of Buffy. But to us you are Lady Dawn, daughter of Thorin, daughter of Thrain." He looked to Buffy, Willow and Xander. "Unlike our elvish friends here, we do not tell the mother's lineage. Thorin is considered Dawn's father and Thrain was Thorin's."

Elrond nodded and smiled. "When you return to Erebor, tell Dain that he has my thanks," he said. "Now, 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 to resist, with hope or without it. But you do not stand alone, even if my daughter had not promised you aid all those years ago, you would still have it. You will learn that your trouble is but part of the trouble of all the western world. The Ring! What shall we do with the Ring, the least of rings, the trifle that Sauron fancies? That is the doom that we must deem."

"That is the purpose for which you are called hither. Called, I say, though I have not called you to me, strangers from distant lands. You have come and are here met, in this very nick of time, by chance as it may seem. Yet it is not so. Believe rather that it is so 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."

Then all listened while Elrond in his clear voice spoke of Sauron and the Rings of Power. When he was finished Elrond asked for Dawn to produce the ring.

There was a hush, and all turned their eyes on Dawn. The Ring gleamed and flickered as she held it up before them.

"Behold!' said Elrond. "Ariel, tell us your story of the ring."

Dawn did as told, she told them of how she had found the ring in the Gollum's cave. How she had used it time and again to help the dwarves on their quest to retake Erebor. How the ring did not work in her world and lastly what had happened when she had returned to Middle Earth.

Galdor of the Havens looked to Elrond. "The Wise may have good reason to believe that your daughter'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. "They had not been overlooked, and they shall be answered. But these things it is the part of Gandalf to make clear; and I call upon him last, for it is the place of honor, and in all this matter he has been the chief."

"Some, Galdor,' said Gandalf, 'would think the tidings of Glóin, and the pursuit of Lady Ariel, proof enough that her trove is a thing of great worth to the Enemy. Yet it is a ring. What then? The Nine the Nazgûl keep. The Seven are taken or destroyed." At this Glóin stirred, but did not speak. "The Three we know of. What 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 he learn the full truth."

"Some here will remember that many years ago I myself dared to pass the doors 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 that was in the very year of the finding of this Ring: a strange chance, if chance it was."

"But we were too late, as Elrond foresaw. Sauron also had watched us, and had long prepared against our stroke, governing Mordor from afar through Minas Morgul, where his Nine servants dwelt, until all was ready. Then he gave way before us, but only feigned to flee, and soon after came to the Dark Tower and openly declared himself. Then for the last time the Council met; for now, we learned that he was seeking ever more eagerly for the One. We feared then that he had some news of it that we knew nothing of. But Saruman said nay and repeated what he had said to us before: that the One would never again be found in Middle Earth."

"It has taken me many a year to make the determination that the ring that Lady Ariel bares is the One Ring. I eventually made a journey to Lady Ariel's world to put my own doubts at rest at what I knew to be true. Upon this very ring which you have here seen held aloft, round and unadorned, are letters that 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 durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.'

"Never before has any voice dared to utter words of that tongue in Imladris, Gandalf the Grey," said Elrond.

'

"And let us hope that none will ever speak it here again," answered Gandalf. "Nonetheless I do not ask your pardon, Master Elrond. For if that tongue is not soon to be heard in every corner of the West, then let all put doubt aside that this thing is indeed what the Wise have declared: the treasure of the Enemy, fraught with all his malice; and in it lies a great part of his strength of old. Out of the Black Years come the words that the Smiths of Eregion heard, and knew that they had been betrayed: One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them."

"Know also, my friends, that I learned more yet from Gollum. He was loth to speak and his tale was unclear, but it is beyond all doubt that he went to Mordor, and there all that he knew was forced from him. Thus, the Enemy knows now that the One is found. How he found out that it in Lady Ariel's home dimension we do not know.

"On our world," Willow said. "There was a great battle. What we call the First Evil and Sauron conspired together to leave our two worlds in darkness. Sauron sent an army of orcs through a Hellmouth, a dimensional barrier between our two worlds, to assist the First Evil in exchange for helping to acquire the ring."

"And he knows that battle did not go well and that Lady Ariel has return to Middle Earth with the ring. He may even know by now that we have it here," Gandalf said.

All sat silent for a while, until at length Boromir spoke. "He is a small thing, you say, this Gollum? Small, but great in mischief. What became of him? To what doom did you put him?"

"He is in prison, but no worse," said Aragorn, he no longer was going by the name of Strider. "He had suffered much. There is no doubt that he was tormented, and the fear of Sauron lies black on his heart. Still I for one am glad that he is safely kept by the watchful Elves of Mirkwood. His malice is great and gives him a strength hardly to be believed in one so lean and withered. He could work much mischief still, if he were free. And I do not doubt that he was allowed to leave Mordor on some evil errand."

"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. Sméagol, 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 as he felt Dawn's hand in his own, he gave her a smile in thanks for the support; "but perhaps through over-kindliness. And we fear that the prisoner had aid from others, and that more is known of our 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."

"Your father was less tender to me," said Glóin with a flash of his eyes, as old memories were stirred of his imprisonment in the deep places of the Elven-king's halls.

"Gloin, if you remember it was with Legolas help that I was able to free you," Dawn said.

"In hindsight," Thranduil said, "That was a regrettable misunderstanding, which has long been set right.

"If all the grievances that stand between Elves and Dwarves are to be brought up here, we may as well abandon this Council," Gandalf added.

Glóin 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 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 many. The dark things that were driven 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 the 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."

"And now I will answer Galdor's other questions. What of Saruman? What are his counsels to us in this need? This tale I must tell in full, for only Elrond has heard it yet, and that in brief; but it will bear on all that we must resolve. It is the last chapter in the Tale of the Ring, so far as it has yet gone."

Gandalf told them how he had gone to Saruman in aid. How Saruman had talked about a great power. How Saruman had wanted the One Ring for himself. How when Gandalf refused to tell Saruman where the ring was he imprisoned at the pinnacle of Orthanc, in the place where Saruman was accustomed to watch the stars. Where he could see the many pits and forges that doted the once green plain. "Well, the Tale is now told, from first to last. Here we all are, and here is the Ring. But we have not yet come any nearer to our purpose. What shall we do with it?"

There was a silence. At last Elrond spoke again. "This is grievous news concerning Saruman," he said; "for we trusted him and he is deep in all our counsels. It is perilous to study too deeply the arts of the Enemy, for good or for ill.

"If the Ring cannot be kept from him forever by strength," said Glorfindel, "two things only remain for us to attempt: to send it over the Sea, or to destroy it."

"But Gandalf has revealed to us that we cannot destroy it by any craft that we here possess," said Elrond. "And they who dwell beyond the Sea would not receive it: for good or ill it belongs to Middle Earth; it is for us who still dwell here to deal with it."

"Then," said Glorfindel, "let us cast it into the deeps, and so make the lies of Saruman come true. For it is clear now that even at the Council his feet were already on a crooked path. He knew that the Ring was not lost forever but wished us to think so; for he began to lust for it for himself. Yet oft in lies truth is hidden: in the Sea it would be safe."

"No," Buffy said. "He would find it. The only course of action that will not leave your world in darkness is to destroy it."

Elrond sighed. "Then only road that we can take is a hard road, a road unforeseen by our Enemy. There lies our hope, if hope it be. To walk into peril – to Mordor. We must send the Ring to the Fire."

Boromir stirred as he fingered his great horn and frowned. At length he spoke. "I do not understand all this," he said. "Saruman is a traitor, but did he not have a glimpse of wisdom? Why do you speak ever of hiding and destroying? Why should we not think that the Great Ring has come into our hands to serve us in the very hour of need? Wielding it the Free Lords of the Free may surely defeat the Enemy. That is what he most fears, I deem. The Men of Gondor are valiant, and they will never submit; but they may be beaten down. Valor needs first strength, and then a weapon. Let the Ring be your weapon, if it has such power as you say. Take it and go forth to victory!"

"Alas, no," said Elrond. "We cannot use the Ruling Ring. That we know too well. It belongs to Sauron and was made by him alone and is altogether evil. Its strength, Boromir, is too great for anyone to wield at will, save only those who have already a great power of their own." He looked at Dawn as he said this as if he was talking more to her than to Boromir. "But for them it holds an even deadlier peril. The very desire of it corrupts the heart. Consider Saruman. If any should with this Ring overthrow the Lord of Mordor, he or she would then set himself or herself on Sauron's throne, and yet another Dark Lord would appear. And that is another reason why the Ring should be destroyed: as long as it is in the world it will be a danger. For nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so. I fear to take the Ring to hide it. I will not take the Ring to wield it."

"Nor I," said Gandalf.

"I would not either," Buffy added.

Boromir looked at them doubtfully, but he bowed his head. "So be it," he said. "Then in Gondor we must trust to such weapons as we have. And at the least, while the Ring is guarded, we will fight on. Regardless I do not ask for aid, but we need it. It would comfort us to know that others fought also with all the means that they have."

"Then be comforted," said Elrond. "For there are other powers and realms that you know not, and they are hidden from you. Anduin the Great flows past many shores, ere it comes to Argonath and the Gates of Gondor."

"Still it might be well for all," said Glóin the Dwarf, "if all these strengths were joined, and the powers of each were used in league. Other rings there may be, less treacherous, that might be used in our need. The Seven are lost to us – if Balin has not found the ring of Thrór, which was the last; naught has been heard of it since Thrór perished in Moria. Indeed, I may now reveal that it was partly in hope to find that ring that Balin went away"

"Balin will find no ring in Moria," said Gandalf. "It has long been my belief that Smaug consumed it. How he got it, no one knows."

"Ah, alas!" cried Glóin. "When will the day come of our revenge? But still there are the Three. What of the Three Rings of the Elves? Very mighty Rings, it is said. Do not the Elf-lords keep them? Yet they too were made by the Dark Lord long ago. Are they idle? I see Elf-lords here. Will they not say?"

"The three were not made by Sauron," Dawn said. "They were made by Elves. And as such are mere symbols of position."

"Ariel is correct," Elrond agreed. "They were not made as weapons of war or conquest: that is not their power. Those who made them did not desire strength or domination or hoarded wealth, but understanding, making, and healing, to preserve all things unstained. These things the Elves of Middle Earth have in some measure gained, though with sorrow. But all that has been wrought by those who wield the Three will turn to their undoing, and their minds and hearts will become revealed to Sauron, if he regains the One. It would be better if the Three had never been. That is his purpose."

"But what then would happen, if the Ruling Ring were destroyed, as has been counseled?" asked Glóin.

"We know not for certain," answered Elrond sadly. "Some hope that the Three Rings, which Sauron has never touched, would then become free, and their rulers might heal the hurts of the world that he has wrought. But maybe when the One has gone, the Three will fail, and many fair things will fade and be forgotten. That is my belief."

"Yet all the Elves are willing to endure this chance," said Glorfindel, "if by it the power of Sauron may be broken, and the fear of his dominion be taken away forever."

"Thus, we return once more to the destroying of the Ring," said Erestor

"At least for a while," said Elrond. "The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere."

"Father, since the ring came into my possession …" Dawn said.

"Yes," Elrond said. "You along with others will be sent with the Ring."

"Buffy, Xander and Willow?" Dawn asked.

"They have come with you this far," Elrond said. "They of course will continue with you. But they will not be the only ones."