The Ranger And The Prince.

Council of Elrond.

As I entered, I threw back my hood and let her my stark white hair fall down my back as I removed the scarf from my face.

I knew that all eyes were on me because of my weird appearance but I was used to it by now. Many of the men snickered at the fact I was a woman because among their race, women were seen as inferior to men. Well here was one woman they couldn't mess with!

I took a seat next to an old friend of mine and Nasha sat at my feet while I stroked her head. I had met Aragorn on one of my travels up north and knew he was a fellow ranger. I nodded respectfully to him in thanks for not snickering at my appearance, and sat down besides him.

I looked around the circle and saw a few familiar faces. Gandalf the Grey was one of them, I had met him in Rohan at the coronation of King Théoden. One of the dwarves I had seen in Erebor but had never spoken to.

Apart from those I knew, there was a group of elves seated away from the dwarves and a group of men from Gondor. Next to Gandalf sat a small halfling with dark curly hair, why he had been summoned to this meeting, I had no idea.

"Strangers from distant lands, friends of old, you have been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor..." Elrond started, staring round the circle at everyone, "Middle-Earth stands upon the brink of destruction, none can escape it. You will unite or you will fall... Each race is bound to this fate, to this one doom."

Everyone sat on edge as Lord Elrond spoke. He had the gift of foresight and was one of the wisest of the elves, no one could argue against him, his word's were true. For years, I have roamed Middle-Earth and watched it change. I had seen the Greenwood of old turn into Mirkwood as it was cursed. In all my years in the Westfold of Rohan I had seen an increase in darkness.

"Bring forth the Ring, Frodo..." Elrond looked to the halfling next to Gandalf and gustured to the stone pillar in the middle of the council.

The little halfling got up slowly and made his way over to the stone table. He placed down a plain golden ring in the centre of the stone and backed away with a sigh of relief, almost as if a great weight had been taken off him.

The council begun to murmur with whispers and hushed conversations. Nasha growled again and I had to whisper a few comforting thoughts to her in elvish for her to calm down.

"It is true..." One of the men said as he looked at the ring with a fixed gaze.

All regarded the ring differently. The men were captivated by its beauty and could not draw they eyes away from it. The dwarves looked with curiousity while the elves seemed angered by being so close to such an inhumane force.

I looked at the ring with a furious gaze. It was captivating and mesmerising, as though it was pulling me in.

"A dream..." The man whom I had heard speak earlier got up from his chair and looked around the room but kept looking back at the ring, "I saw the eastern sky grow dark but in the west a pale light lingered, voices crying doom's near at hand," he slowly walked closer and closer to the ring, his hand slowly stretching out, "Isildur's bane is found..."

With that, he stretched out his hand to touch the ring and take it but Lord Elrond stood up. I felt a shiver run through me at the thought of touching the ring, it both intrigued me and disgusted me.

"Boromir!" Elrond bellowed deeply as Gandalf sat up and begun to speak in a language not used by many.

It was Black Speech. All the members of the meeting felt the coldness it brought them to hear it spoken aloud. The very light around them seemed to dim as Gandalf stood up. Nasha whined and whimpered at my feet but I could not speak comfort to her because I myself felt dread run through me as we listened to the Black Speech.