Chapter 381: The Fellowship of the Ring
At Glorfindel's words, hope rose in the faces of most who sat in the hall.
If the One Ring could be taken into the West, to Valinor itself, and placed in the hands of the Valar, then war might be avoided altogether. They could destroy Sauron at the smallest cost possible and spare Middle-earth another age of bloodshed.
One by one, their gazes shifted to Galdor, Círdan the Shipwright's secretary.
"Secretary Galdor," someone asked, unable to hide the urgency, "when will Lord Círdan return from the West?"
Círdan had not come in person this time. Instead, he had sent his secretary as his representative, because he was once again at the helm, ferrying another company of Elves across the Sea, and had no time to attend.
Facing the hopeful stares, Galdor answered calmly, "By the usual reckoning, Lord Círdan should return to the Grey Havens in early spring next year, with the rainy season carried on the west wind."
Confidence spread through the room at once.
Théodred of Rohan said happily, "There is time enough. We need only wait a little more than half a year. When Lord Círdan's ship returns to the Grey Havens, we can send the Ring to the Blessed Realm.
"Then the Dark Lord will never lay hands on it again. And when the Valar destroy it, the Dark Lord will vanish entirely, and Middle-earth will know enduring peace."
Most of them felt the same. If Sauron could be ended at the smallest cost, why would any of them refuse?
Only Elrond frowned, worry plain on his face. "But there is one greatest difficulty. How do we send the Ring safely to Valinor?"
He looked around the circle and reminded them, "Do not forget the Ring's danger. It tempts anyone who comes close. A voyage to Valinor takes months. For that entire time, those aboard would share the same ship as the Ring. How can anyone guarantee the crew would not be ensnared? And if they are, who can say the ship would reach Valinor at all?"
The hall cooled, as if a chill breeze had slipped in. One by one, brows furrowed.
They had just found what sounded like the perfect solution, only to run headlong into a problem that seemed impossible to untangle.
They had felt the Ring's lure for themselves moments earlier. It had taken only a short time for many of them to nearly lose their grip. If they truly had to travel with it for months at sea, it sounded like a nightmare.
"Is there truly no choice but Mount Doom?" someone sighed.
To send the Ring to Mount Doom was a task so perilous that few dared believe they could succeed. One misstep and it would be like walking straight into a snare, delivering the Ring back into Sauron's hands.
By contrast, the West felt safer, if only they could solve one problem: how to keep the ship's people from being tempted across a journey of months.
As the mood grew heavy, Gandalf and Kael exchanged a look. Kael gave a small nod and stood.
"My lords," he said.
All eyes turned to him.
"It is not impossible to ensure the Ring reaches Valinor safely," Kael said. "You have just seen that when the Ring is soaked in venom, its influence weakens greatly. With the box's seals as well, the danger drops by a wide margin.
"And I have a discipline of magic called Occlumency, which can ward the mind against intrusion. When Lord Círdan returns to the Grey Havens, we can select Elven sailors with firm wills and teach them Occlumency.
"Then, so long as none of them touches the Ring at close range, they should be able to resist its lure and deliver it safely to Valinor."
He paused, then added, "As for the Ring-bearer, I still recommend Frodo Baggins. Let him carry the Ring aboard the ship and place it into the hands of the Valar. What do you say?"
The room stirred. Many were tempted by the thought.
"But only Elves have the right to sail to Valinor," someone objected at once. "Can a Halfling go?"
Kael looked to Gandalf, and Gandalf rose to answer. "That is no obstacle. Frodo would be escorting the Ring to Valinor, not settling there. Once the task is complete, he will return by ship."
Gandalf's authority ran deep. If he said it could be done, few dared question it.
Instead, they began to discuss the practical details of escorting the Ring across the Sea, voices turning eager again.
They agreed on one thing above all: the moment Sauron sensed their intent, he would do everything in his power to ruin it.
Especially in the half year before Círdan returned to the Grey Havens. That was the most delicate, most dangerous window.
Sauron might launch a full assault upon the western lands. He might even move in person, if only to reclaim the Ring.
And even if they endured those months and lived to see Círdan's return, the voyage itself would be fraught with peril.
Sauron's servants had pirates and other forces at sea, watching the western coasts and sea-lanes. The western route looked safe, but it could become a gauntlet of ambushes, and one slip would mean the Ring being seized.
So they discussed escort plans, and at Gandalf's urging, with the support of Kael, Elrond, Galadriel, and others, they also began selecting a company to guard the Ring.
They would form a Ring-guarding expedition, with Frodo at its heart, protecting the Ring and escorting it aboard ship to Valinor.
After all, the road would not be peaceful. Sauron's forces would surely attempt to stop them.
That, at least, was the story they told aloud.
In truth, it was a screen of smoke, deliberately cast to mislead Sauron.
That was why Glorfindel had proposed sending the Ring into the West in the first place, and why Kael, Gandalf, and Elrond had played their parts in careful turn, one voice answering another, building the argument step by step.
Because from beginning to end, Kael and Gandalf had never truly intended to send the Ring to Valinor.
Gandalf had said before that the Valar would not directly intervene in the affairs of Middle-earth. Even the Maiar, when they left Valinor, had been bound and limited, their souls confined within mortal flesh, forbidden to dominate the fate of the world with overwhelming power.
And the Ring was an evil born in Middle-earth. It ought to be dealt with by the peoples of Middle-earth themselves, so they could truly claim their own fate and their own peace.
So even if Kael and the others wished to send it West, the Valar would likely refuse.
Still, the honour of escorting the Ring, and the chance to set foot in the Blessed Realm, stirred the ambitions of many.
In the end, in the name of unity among the Free Peoples, nine were chosen.
Aragorn, representing Rivendell and the heirs of the Kings of Men.
Boromir, representing Gondor.
Legolas, representing the Elves.
Gimli, representing the Dwarves.
And Frodo, the Ring-bearer at the centre of it all.
As for Sam, Merry, and Pippin, they demanded fiercely to come. With Frodo's request added to their insistence, they were granted their place in the company.
Lastly came Gandalf, as the leader of the Ring-guarding alliance, responsible for guiding the company's course.
Gandalf had wanted Kael to join as well, but Kael refused.
He had to remain at Hogwarts, to coordinate their forces, to dispatch aid and reinforcements between Rivendell, Lothlórien, Gondor, Rohan, and the Grey Havens, and to meet Mordor's strength head-on.
Especially after they released the smoke screen that the Ring would be sent to Valinor, the Grey Havens, once a deep rearward refuge, was destined to become the focal point of enemy fire.
To stop the Ring from going West, Mordor would concentrate its strength, striking the Grey Havens from land and sea.
And if Mordor's armies tried to reach the far western Grey Havens by land, they could not avoid Kael's territory.
In the end, a great battle would be unavoidable.
Sauron himself might even appear upon the battlefield.
For Sauron had now taken in the power of Morgoth, the Dark Lord of old. His strength had surged, and he might even have regained a body.
So when war finally erupted, it would be another brutal struggle, one that might spread across the whole of Middle-earth.