Alright Kids, Here we go again! For those of you who've read this story before, I will say again, it is mine. I am just under a new profile. Enjoy again!


She first saw them as she was flying over a marshland by Mordor. The first thing that caught her attention was the creature Gollum. She was flying relatively low over the marsh and could hear him talking to himself yet again. She flew by this area often because no normal human would live here and she didn't want to be seen, and unfortunately Gollum was there a lot of the time. She noticed him, usually by his awful smell or his voice echoing through the mountains. He was most assuredly crazy, and always traveled alone, but today, she smelled something else with him. No, she thought. Not something else. Someone else. There were two of them.

She decided she needed to have a look. She swooped in behind a bolder and shrunk her body to Gollum's size, and peered over a small cliff to see two sleeping bodies in a cave. They looked like children to her, until the thinner one rolled over and she could see his face, though his face wasn't what gave him away. It was the ring he was fingering. It gave off an odd smell. It was unfamiliar to her, yet it struck fear into her heart. She leapt away from it into the air, and with one great flap of her massive wings, she propelled herself 30 feet up. She hovered there for a second trying to decipher the odd feeling of fear she had, then it struck her.

That was the ring of power she had heard so much about. But of course she had only heard whispers throughout her travels. Also, she had heard that there was a man, an elf and a dwarf looking for these two, to help them on some kind of journey. Without even realizing what she was doing, she turned and headed for Rohan. That was the last place she heard them to be. For some reason, she knew she needed to get the message out to them that the two with the ring were alright… for now.

She flew farther than she thought she ever had on that day. As the sights and smells of Mordor disappeared behind her, and the flat land that eventually gave way to the white spires of Minas Tirith lay out in front of her, she thought about the two Hobbits. The one who carried the ring seemed small and fragile, but then again, she was a dragon who had the capacity to grow big enough to stand on her back legs and be eye level with the top level of Minas Tirith.

She rarely chose to be that big however. It was easier to blend into the sky when she was the size of a Hobbit. Being the last of her kind, she chose to draw as little attention to herself as possible. Though her kind was immortal, like many of the creatures of middle earth, the dragons had a tendency to enjoy battle, and that proved to be their downfall. Now she was the last one, and without a male that she knew of, there was no hope for the continuance of her race.

For almost 90 years now she had flown alone. She had cared for nothing and no one but herself. She had never let any of the peoples of middle earth see her, and she was sure every race had forgotten about the dragons that once roamed the land, and owned the skies. Like every race, some of them were good and others evil. It was a regular occurrence to meet in battle and fight as if they were different races, killing all who stood in their way.

By the time she had finished reminiscing, she was gliding over the huge white towers of Minas Tirith. She glanced down and with her dragon eyes she could see the Steward of Gondor looking over his kingdom. She wondered where the real heir to the throne of Gondor was. Years ago when she was nothing but a hatchling, before the ring of power came into existence, she met Isildur. Her mother, the ruler of her people, had pledged to help him and Gondor anyway she could in the coming years. Little did she know she would be helping the man who turned the One Ring loose on the world.

She snorted in anger, and let fire spray from between her teeth. It had been the early hours of the morning when she had found the Hobbits and it was almost noon before she flew over Edoras and found who she was looking for. She could hear the hard, heavy footfalls of a dwarf. The lighter, yet still human footfalls of a man, and the fleet footed darting of an elf. They were running through the trees toward Edoras. They had just crossed into the realm of Rohan, and the Dwarf had fallen pathetically far behind the other two, and the man and Elf had stopped to wait for him.

She turned on the wind and dove toward the trees and broke through the canopy creating a shaft of light. Man and Elf whirled to see what had come through the trees. The man had his hand on the hilt of his sword and the Elf had his bow strung and ready. They hadn't seen the bush she had darted into. She was waiting to see what they would do.

"Who's there?" yelled the man.

She was immediately entranced by his voice. It was rough and rocky, much like his face. There was dirt streaked across his neck and his black hair hung in tangled wet strands framing his face. The darkness of his hair contrasted oddly with the bright green of his eyes. Even in the shadow of the forest, his eyes shown with wisdom, and knowledge beyond his years. He had about a week's growth of beard which made him look even more ruggedly handsome.

"Show yourself!" he yelled.

"Perhaps it is afraid," the golden haired Elf suggested.

At that moment the Dwarf came bursting through the trees only to run into the man's back.

"What is going on?" he asked rather loudly.

"Hush Gimli," the man said sounding almost annoyed.

He glanced at the Elf and nodded once. The Elf's sharp eyes darted from the man's rugged features to the hole in the canopy to the bush she was hiding behind. He stepped forward, not disturbing anything as he walked. He knelt in front of the bush gracefully and spoke softly in elfish.

"We aren't here to hurt you. Come out."

She let her eyes roam over the soft features of the Elf as he spoke again.

"My name is Legolas Greenleaf of Mirkwood. My companions are Gimli son of Gloin, and Aragorn son of Arathorn."

His eyes were patient as he waited for her response. She finally gave in and let her words enter his head.

"My name is Mayleea."

His face remained completely calm as the surprise of her voice in his mind came and went. The only thing that betrayed him were his blue eyes. They seemed afraid for only a second, then the corners curved up as he smiled. Mayleea shrunk her body to the size of a small child and emerged from the bushes.

"And I am from the misty mountains."

She smiled a toothy grin, but Aragorn and Gimli interpreted it wrong and both drew their weapons. She started to back away but Legolas put up a hand to his friends.

"She is not dangerous," he said simply.

Aragorn and Gimli glanced at one another but listened to their comrade.

"What is she?" asked Gimli stepping forward.

Mayleea growled low in her chest. She hadn't had to trust anyone for over 90 years, and a Dwarf was certainly not going to be the first one. Gimli backed away holding his ax at the ready. She mirrored his steps. She moved forward as he moved back, and with each step she grew a little bigger until her shoulders came to the top of Legolas' head, which meant her head was far above the Dwarf. Gimli and Aragorn backed away, but Legolas just looked up at her, amazement in his eyes.

"She is not dangerous," he repeated stepping forward.

He stretched out a hand that Mayleea watched carefully. She snapped at it once, but only half-heartedly. When he didn't pull it back she snorted and shook her head frustrated, but when his long fingertips gently brushed her skin, it wasn't as bad as she had thought it would be. His pale skin shone brightly against her ebony shoulder.

"How long have you been alone, Mayleea?" he asked quietly.

"Too long," she said letting her head fall eye level with him.

He seemed mesmerized with her body. They all were. After a few minutes she let Aragorn touch her head and eventually Gimli was even allowed to come near her. Without his ax of course. She became small again and let Legolas run his hands down her shiny side, long horns, and even her leathery wings. He playfully knocked on the hard plates on her chest and belly and measured his hands to her front feet.

After a few minutes of this Legolas and Mayleea both sensed something coming. They crouched low in unison, and Aragorn and Gimli followed their lead. They all waited for what was coming, though none of them knew what it was yet. They were in for a big surprise, or at least Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli were.