“Frodo!” Aragorn cried, rushing forward to help him. I jogged along behind him as he pulled the Hobbit to his feet. Frodo’s hand instantly crept to his neckline, and I saw the sheer panic in his eyes when he found that the Ring wasn’t there. He turned to look for it, and I noticed its golden shine in the snow up ahead and sensed Frodo’s relief beside me as he also saw it. I put a comforting hand on his shoulder before he began to walk forward to claim it. Then Boromir picked it up.

“Boromir.” Aragorn said in a warning fashion.

We all knew that Boromir desired the Ring, he was only putting himself in danger by handling it. He held it by the chain and reached out with his gloved hand to touch the Ring itself.

“It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing. Such a little thing…” He murmured, as if in a trance.

“Boromir!” Aragorn snapped, “Give the Ring to Frodo.” I noticed out of the corner of my eye that his hand crept beneath his cloak, towards the hilt of his sword.

“As you wish.” Boromir laughed light-heartedly, “I care not.” He returned the ring to Frodo, who instantly slipped it over his head, and then ruffled the Hobbit’s hair before turning away. I laid my hand on Aragorn’s arm and his hand slipped off his sword as the rest of the company walked on. I breathed a sigh of relief as the tension was released. I looked up at Boromir’s retreating figure.

“He’s frightened.” I said to Aragorn as we walked forward. “And it’s his fear that makes his mind weak, and vulnerable to the Ring.”

“I know.” He replied, “I just hope he has the strength to let it go.”

The Fellowship walked on until late afternoon, when we stopped by a frozen lake to eat. I was unhappy about stopping – we would be warmer if we kept walking – but everyone needed a rest. I sat down in the snow with a heavy sigh and looked out over the lake. A light dusting of snow covered the surface, but you could still see the ice reflecting the blue sky above. Somewhere nearby, I heard Merry and Pippin debating whether the ice would be strong enough to hold their weight.

“I wouldn’t advise trying it.” I muttered. “If you fell through, there would be little chance of you surviving. If the cold doesn’t kill you, then you would probably still drown, as it is almost impossible to find the hole you fell through, or break the ice from underneath.”

That seemed to end all thoughts about testing the strength of the ice, although all four hobbits still sat around the edge of the lake.

‘They’ll be fine. It can’t be that deep around the edge…’ I reassured myself as I watched them. Aragorn approached my side and handed some food. I smiled gratefully as he sat down beside me.

“How long will it take to get over the mountain?” I asked quietly.

“Little more than a day, if the pass remains clear.” He replied. I nodded and huddled against his warm body as he put an arm around my shoulders. We sat in silence for a few moments, so I closed my eyes and leant my head against Aragorn’s shoulder.

“Mister Frodo!”

Sam’s startled cry interrupted my moment of peace, along with the loud crack and splash that followed. I sat up in alarm, seeing Frodo desperately trying to cling to the ice at the edge of the lake as his lower body became submerged. I sprang to my feet and dashed towards him, grabbing his shoulders and hauling him out of the freezing water.

“The Ring!” He yelled, pointing to the tiny object that was spinning wildly across the surface of the ice. My heart leapt into my throat as I saw it slide closer and closer towards the crack that stretched across the ice – it had been caused by Frodo’s fall.

I heard everyone sigh with relief as it stopped, just inches away from the drop into the freezing, black water.

‘How are we going to get to it?’ I asked myself, just as Frodo put an experimental foot onto the ice.

“Frodo no!” I yelled, pulling him back, but it was too late. The new pressure on the ice caused the crack to widen, and with a sickening plop, the Ring slid into the water.

There was a resounding gasp, and I looked down and saw the look of utter horror on Frodo’s face.

Without a second thought, I unfastened my cloak, kicked off my boots, and dove straight into the water.

My first thought was ‘Cold’ the second was, ‘I can’t breathe’ and then ‘You’re underwater, of course you can’t breathe.’ I kicked downwards and forced my eyes to open. For a moment, all I could see was a murky darkness. Then my eyes adjusted, and I saw the light from above filter through the water. I swam down as quickly as I could, but the water was freezing my limbs, and I was slowing already. A glimmer caught my eye, and I saw the Ring slowly sinking into the depths. I had no idea how deep the lake was, or what dwelt in it, but I pushed these thoughts out of my mind as I pursued the Ring. I reached out, and caught the loop of the chain on my fingertips. Smiling triumphantly to myself, I began to swim upwards. How far was it to the surface? I hoped it was close, I was running out of air. The Ring was surprisingly heavy; in fact, it seemed to be dragging me downwards. I fought it with every last ounce of strength in my weakening body, kicking upwards, searching for a shred of light to guide me towards the crack in the ice.

Suddenly, my head hit something hard and cold. I’d found the surface, but not the crack. My words from earlier came back to me, ‘it is almost impossible to find the hole you fell through, or break the ice from underneath.’

I frantically swam from side to side, suddenly disorientated. My lungs screamed for air as I began to panic. I slammed the ice from underneath, but a combination of the cold, my weak body, and the strange effect water has on movement proved my efforts ineffective. A few precious bubbles of air escaped my lips and I began to sink. My vision clouded and it seemed like the cold was compressing my head, or maybe that was just the power of the Ring effecting me. I realised I didn’t care anymore, as the sudden urge to sleep had come over me, and it seemed too tempting to resist.

‘Is this the end?’ I thought drowsily. It couldn’t be, I needed to get the Ring to Frodo! Summoning the last of my strength, I forced myself back towards the ice, just as a dull sound caught my attention. It sounded as if a current had swirled up in the water, but that was nonsense. The lake was frozen. Then something grabbed me. I opened my mouth in shock, allowing the last of my air to escape and icy water began to flood my mouth. I was dragged upwards and was momentarily blinded by light, before I realised that I wasn’t in the water anymore.

I coughed fitfully, expelling the water from my lungs and then gasped for air, breathing it in gratefully. I blinked and looked around to see what had caused me to leave the water, and I saw Legolas crouching over me.

“Rana?” He called my name, waiting for me to respond. I realised I was lying on my back, staring up at the sky, so I struggled to sit up, and then felt Legolas’s arms close around me as he lifted me easily and dashed back across the ice with light feet. I was startled to see how far away I was from where I’d first entered the water. From the looks of the hole in the ice that I’d just been pulled from, I had been so far away from the crack that I would never have made it.

I felt Legolas release me, but before my feet even touched the ground, there were different arms around me, holding me close.

“Rana, you are the most irresponsible person I have ever met.” Aragorn murmured into my shoulder as I relaxed into his embrace.

“Sorry…Where is Frodo?” I whispered with effort.

“Here.” I heard the shaken reply come from behind me, and I turned towards the Hobbit. With trembling hands I held out the Ring for him. I had been careful only to hold the chain, and not to touch the ring itself.

‘Why don’t you keep it?’

The seemingly random thought that popped into my head startled me, and frightened me so much that I instantly dropped the Ring into Frodo’s outstretched hand.

‘Because I don’t want it.’ I replied to the voice in my head which seemed to have disappeared the second the Ring left my hand.

“Try to be more careful with it.” I murmured to Frodo, smiling weakly. I suddenly became aware of the cold, and began to tremble. Aragorn scooped me into his arms and began to carry me back towards where we had originally stopped. I protested, but couldn’t physically stop him while I was in my current condition. Without even setting me down, he began to search through the bags on Bill’s back, and retrieved a spare shirt and pair of breeches. The only spare clothes I’d brought.

“At least you took off your boots and cloak.” He muttered. I nodded as he set me on my feet and went to fetch the clothes he had just mentioned. I hugged myself to try and stop myself shivering as he returned and I slipped behind a nearby boulder to change. I didn’t have any spare leather clothing, but those would dry quickly.

As I re-emerged, still shivering, Aragorn threw his own cloak around my shoulders and handed me some food.

“You were irresponsible, but brave.” He commented. I shook my head.

“I didn’t even think about it. I just knew that the Ring couldn’t be lost.” I muttered, chewing my food. “I didn’t want to go near it though... It’s too powerful. I hate it.” I finished in a whisper. I finished eating and began to wring the freezing water out of my clothes. Luckily, I had left my sword, bow and quiver by the side of the lake, the only weapon that went with me into the water was my hunting knife. “I think it tried to test me.” I sighed. “It wanted me to keep it, but I didn’t want to.”

“Then you are stronger then a lot of people. I don’t know if I could make the same decision if I was faced with that choice.” Aragorn murmured.

“You underestimate your strength. You are stronger then I am.” I said earnestly, as I packed away my damp clothes. I could feel my strength beginning to return as I turned back and found Frodo standing before me.

“Thank you Rana.” He mumbled. I smiled.

“Don’t thank me; I barely made a conscious decision when I went after the Ring. Just try not to drop it again today.”

He smiled and I realised that I was surrounded by the Fellowship.

“Do you feel well enough to carry on, Rana?” Gandalf asked. I nodded and he began to walk on, with the four Hobbits in tow, each gave me a small nod as they passed by, and Boromir laid one had on my shoulder as he walked past. As Legolas moved on I caught his arm.

“Legolas.” I murmured, “Thank you.” He only smiled and walked on.

“Thought you were dead back there lass.” Gimli grunted.

“So did I Gimli.” I muttered. As he walked away, only Aragorn was left beside me.

“I think you just proved yourself to all of them.” He smiled.

“Maybe they just learnt not to underestimate people.” I grinned.