Chapter 124: The Fidelius Charm

Hearing Kael's shocking words, everyone fell into complete, stunned silence. Gandalf's expression grew extremely serious and troubled. "Kael, this is an extraordinarily serious accusation!" "And the target of your accusation is Middle-earth's most respected White Wizard and leader of the White Council. Do you have concrete evidence that Saruman is colluding with Sauron?" Though Elrond and Galadriel didn't speak immediately, their expressions also became deeply grave. They understood Kael wouldn't speak without a solid foundation, but they were also reluctant to believe Saruman could have fallen so far. In their perspective, though Saruman was somewhat arrogant and stubborn by nature, he had been a steadfast leader against dark forces for thousands of years. If he had truly turned to darkness, it would represent a devastating blow to all forces of good. Evidence? Kael naturally possessed it. He raised his wand to his temple and slowly extracted a silvery thread of memory with careful precision. "Lady Galadriel, if you would assist me!" Galadriel nodded with understanding, immediately grasping Kael's meaning, and led everyone to her private garden sanctuary. In a secluded corner of the garden, spring water flowed from the fountain on the hill, forming a small stream that fed into a silver basin set upon a pedestal carved like intertwining tree branches. The basin was wide and shallow, with a silver pitcher placed beside it with obvious reverence. This was Galadriel's legendary Mirror, which could reveal visions of the past, present, and future. Galadriel picked up the silver pitcher gracefully, drew clear water from the stream, then slowly poured it into the silver basin with ritual precision. The water's surface in the basin stirred with mystical ripples, becoming an ethereal water mirror with countless phantoms seeming to float within its depths. After completing this preparation, Galadriel stepped aside and gestured for Kael to continue. Kael approached the silver basin and shook the silvery thread from his wand tip into the waiting water. As soon as the memory thread touched the basin, it quickly dispersed and merged with the water completely. Ethereal images immediately appeared in the water mirror with startling clarity. Everyone couldn't help but gather around closely, their gazes fixed intently on the scenes unfolding within. The images showed Saruman using a palantír to contact the Dark Lord Sauron directly, Gandalf discovering Saruman's betrayal upon arriving at Isengard only to be imprisoned in the tower by his former ally, and Saruman creating Orc variants that weren't afraid of sunlight. These scenes were fragmented but vivid, and without exception they all indicated the undeniable fact of Saruman's turn to darkness. Witnessing these images, everyone felt profoundly shocked and incredulous. Gandalf's expression became extremely serious and grave, his gaze fixed intently on the content in the images, trying to glean more crucial information from them. Elrond also watched the images carefully and quickly reacted, looking at Kael with obvious surprise. "These are visions that haven't happened yet. These are future scenes you witnessed? You prophesied this?" The others also looked at Kael with amazed curiosity. Kael nodded, then shook his head with careful clarification. "It's not exactly prophecy, just foresight. After all, true prophecies cannot be changed." In fact, some of these images were indeed glimpsed during his previous prophetic experience. But the larger portion were false memories Kael had created based on his knowledge of future events. He wasn't someone who forgot grudges easily. After Saruman had repeatedly called him a "third-rate conjurer" before, this time he was taking the opportunity to expose this wizard's true corrupt nature. And he wasn't afraid of Gandalf and the others doubting his claims. After all, these were all things Saruman would actually do in the future. He hadn't falsely accused him of anything. So Kael felt completely confident and experienced no guilt whatsoever. Seeing this revelation, Galadriel, Elrond, and the others fell into troubled silence. They finally had to accept the painful fact that their former ally might have already betrayed them completely. "How should we respond to Saruman's fall?" Gandalf asked with obvious concern. Elrond shook his head gravely. "We don't have concrete evidence of this matter right now, so we can't immediately confront Saruman. To prevent him from becoming wary and defensive, we can only secretly investigate and gather evidence." Saruman's status and power were no trivial matter. He was not only the chief among wizards but also the leader of the White Council. Any rash action could easily cause dangerous turmoil throughout Middle-earth. "And the Ring matter must also be completely hidden from him to avoid creating more complications," Elrond said with firm resolve. Galadriel and Gandalf nodded in complete agreement. Now that they knew Saruman harbored ulterior motives, they naturally couldn't let him learn about the Ring's appearance. "Then who should temporarily keep the Ring?" Celeborn asked practically. Since they couldn't destroy the Ring immediately, they needed a secure storage plan to prevent complications before the Ring could be transported to Mount Doom for destruction. The question of who should keep the Ring put everyone in a difficult position once again. The Ring possessed the power to bewitch and corrupt minds. No matter who kept it, it would be extremely difficult to guarantee they wouldn't be affected by the Ring's insidious power. Especially the stronger a person was, the harder it would be to resist the Ring's terrible attraction. If powerful beings like Gandalf or Galadriel were influenced or even corrupted, that would truly represent complete disaster. So for everyone's safety, the Ring couldn't be entrusted to the most powerful people. Calculating this way, it seemed the candidate for keeping the Ring fell back to Bilbo once again. "I believe that since fate allowed Bilbo to encounter the Ring, he can continue keeping it until we decide when to destroy this cursed object," Celeborn suggested thoughtfully. "Among all of us, only Bilbo is affected least by the Ring's malevolent influence. Entrusting it to him remains safest." There was something else Celeborn didn't say aloud: that Bilbo posed the least potential threat. Even if influenced by the Ring, he couldn't cause excessive harm. Gandalf shook his head in firm opposition. "The Ring's influence on hobbits is minimal, but that doesn't mean there is none whatsoever. We can't gamble with Bilbo's safety, betting that the Ring won't eventually harm him." Elrond also agreed completely with Gandalf's concerns. Galadriel hadn't joined the debate until everyone sought her opinion, when she turned to look directly at Kael. "Kael, what's your opinion on this matter?" Hearing this, Gandalf and the others also looked expectantly at him. Though Kael felt somewhat surprised that Galadriel would specifically ask him, he still responded thoughtfully. "I know of a candidate. In his hands, the Ring would be no different from an ordinary piece of jewelry, and with the Ring in his possession, we wouldn't need to worry about anyone taking it away. Not even if Sauron came in person!" Hearing Kael's confident words, everyone felt genuinely surprised. Was there truly such a person in Middle-earth? "Who are you talking about?" Elrond asked with obvious curiosity. Kael smiled and answered clearly. "Tom Bombadil, who lives in the Old Forest." Hearing this name, Elrond was stunned momentarily, then understood completely. He nodded with approval. "If it's Bombadil, that would indeed be an excellent choice." Galadriel and Celeborn also remembered this legendary figure. However, in Sindarin, Bombadil had another name: Iarwain Ben-adar, meaning "Eldest and Fatherless." Tom Bombadil was incredibly ancient, existing even before the Elves awakened in Cuiviénen. He had even lived peacefully with the Elves for a time. So some ancient Elves had heard his name and knew his reputation. Tom's identity remained mysterious, but his power was absolutely unquestionable. So Galadriel and Celeborn didn't oppose the suggestion of entrusting the Ring to Tom Bombadil's care. Only Gandalf remained somewhat uneasy about this plan. "Bombadil's personality is like clouds in the sky. He simply doesn't understand the importance of such weighty matters. If you give him this ring, he might quickly forget about it or even casually throw it away. Such concerns don't exist in his mind at all. I think he's an unreliable guardian." Hearing this valid concern, Elrond also became somewhat hesitant. "Actually, there's no need to worry excessively. Though Tom is somewhat unreliable, his wife, Goldberry, is an extremely careful lady. As long as we explain the matter's importance to Lady Goldberry, we don't need to worry about Tom being absent-minded and losing the Ring," Kael added reassuringly. Kael had lived with Tom and Goldberry for a time and knew that while Tom was somewhat capricious, Goldberry was very careful and gentle. Tom and Goldberry had helped Kael before, so troubling them with this matter was somewhat inconsiderate. But only by entrusting the Ring to Tom's care could they avoid worrying about the Ring corrupting people and also not worry about Sauron being able to take the Ring from Tom's hands. Of course, all this required getting Tom and Goldberry's consent first. If they didn't want to take on this trouble, they would think of another solution then. So Kael shared his complete thoughts with everyone. This time Gandalf didn't object either, since if they could guarantee the Ring's safety, he would be happy to have someone else keep this dangerous item. Even if Bombadil could permanently keep the Ring and prevent Sauron from obtaining it, they wouldn't need to risk the dangerous journey to Mount Doom to destroy the Ring. After all, once the One Ring was destroyed, all three Elven Rings would lose their protective power. Gandalf didn't care about losing the Ring of Fire. But without the Elven Rings' protective power, both Lórien and Rivendell would gradually decline. Just as Kael had prophesied: the age of Elves would end, and the age of Men would come. Gandalf and the Elves all knew that day would eventually arrive and were prepared for it, but they still hoped that day could come much later. Since they had decided the Ring's destination, everyone stopped hesitating and decided that after leaving Lórien this time, they would take the Ring to visit Tom Bombadil. And since none of them dared touch the Ring directly, they decided that Bilbo would continue keeping it temporarily. Bilbo hadn't expected the Ring to return to his custody. Though it was only temporary guardianship, he still felt somewhat pleased. However, to prevent the Ring from continuing to erode Bilbo, Galadriel produced an exquisite small box inscribed with protective Elven runes and locked the Ring safely inside it. This beautiful box had been crafted during Sauron's powerful period to hide the three Elven Rings from Sauron's detection. It possessed magical shielding capabilities. As long as the Ring was placed inside, it could minimize the Ring's influence on Bilbo to the greatest possible extent. Seeing this precaution, Kael also decided to contribute and revealed a plan he had long considered. "I have a Fidelius Charm that can hide the secret of the Ring in the deepest part of the soul. As long as the Secret-Keeper doesn't speak, no one can reveal information about the ring. Not even with Legilimency. Most importantly, even if outsiders know about the Ring, even if the Ring is placed right in front of them, they simply cannot see or touch it." "This way, we can maximize the Ring's safety and prevent anyone other than us from learning about the Ring." Hearing about the Fidelius Charm's incredible effects, everyone's eyes immediately lit up with hope and excitement.