26No sooner had the words left Aragorn's mouth did he charge forward, followed closely by Pippin and Merry. Mayleea reared back and roared, then shot into the sky. The dragons all the way down the line followed her lead and ascended. Once in the sky, she could hear the rising war cry from the men below. She tossed her head and roared then glanced behind her at her army.
"Remember who you fight for!" she yelled into her mind, and then dropped out of the sky.
The dragons behind her roared and followed her down just as the silver helmets of their allies clashed with the dark bodies of the Orcs. The dragons' combined roars made the enemy glance up and scream in terror. The ones not in the immediate fight, held their deadly spears to the sky, hoping to skure the dragons as they descended. The dragons were prepared. Mayleea roared and almost half of the company pulled up away from the ground, while the dragons who had hard chest plates and scales, came forward. Mayleea, along with the plated dragons, didn't stop their decent and slammed their armored bodies down on the Orc.
The less armored dragons followed Kára across the field spreading fire though the enemy's ranks. Mayleea ripped the head off an Orc and crushed another while dragons all around her created chaos within the back of the enemy's ranks. She couldn't see any of the allies, but she could feel them. Gimli was in the process of throwing his ax around like a club, knocking the Orc's heads together. Éomer was back to back with another soldier, his sword glinting in the rare glimpse of sunlight. Pippin and Mary were running between the Orc's legs, stabbing and poking then getting away before the Orc's had any idea.
Mayleea glanced up and saw Maltök's pink wings flapping high above the Orc's head's. He reared back and roared then brought his left front foot down right onto one of the Orc spears. Mayleea watched as the thick, heavy spear splintered and turned to dust under Maltök's plated palm. He roared again and closed his mouth over the Orc's head. With a twist of his head, the enemy's head popped off and the body crumpled to the ground. As much as Mayleea enjoyed watching Maltök, she was forced to turn her attention back to the enemy in her path.
She jumped into the sky, above the enemy and spit fire below her before she landed again. She felt something cut her hip and she spun around grabbing the Orc by the back leg and threw him fifteen feet to the left. His comrades stepped right up and took his place. Mayleea soon realized her body was not protected enough to continue fighting on the ground. Orc blades and spears were tearing into the soft unprotected flesh of her thighs, shoulders and sides. She whipped her tail around, hitting the Orc's and knocking them off balance. She pawed the air as she rose then roared.
"Leave the fighting on the ground to those who have protection. Everyone else fight from the air!"
Roars came from all around and several dragons rose into the air. Mayleea suddenly felt a stab of pain in the lower part of her tail. She swung around and growled as her eyes landed on a large troll. He was drooling stupidly and growling. His large hand was clutching the end of her tail and the other was holding a knife that was buried in her skin. Mayleea was more angry than worried but as he began to pull her down to his level, she roared for help. Maltök and Pallando were close by, but they were busy with their own problems at the moment. She glanced above her and before she could call, Kára was on her way. Siblings Tharkûn and Elurya were fighting on the ground a little ways away and they broke off and began fighting toward her, but she knew they wouldn't get there in time. By then the troll had her down close enough to the ground that the Orc could stab at her with their swords. She turned around and swiped at one of the Orc and spit fire at the troll. All he did was shake his head and let the acid drip off his armor.
She roared and kicked at his face. She succeeded in gouging a hole in the side of his face, but that only made him angry. He let out a roar and yanked her out of the sky. She hit the ground with such force, the air was expelled from her lungs and she gasped for a moment. The troll lumbered around and placed a giant foot on one of her wings as she tried to stand. She held back the yelp of pain and instead turned and sunk her teeth into the fleshy leg.
He roared again and picked up his foot, only to smash it down harder, but before he could, an arrow came out of nowhere and found its home in his ankle. He pulled back instantly and shook his foot around. Mayleea was temporarily forgotten as he hopped on one foot, crushing several unfortunate Orc in his path. She looked behind her as another dragon attacked the troll. She saw the source of the arrow. It was none other than the blond haired Elf. He shot a grin her way and went back to defending himself using his bow as a shield. She stood up and shook off, killing a few Orc's then turning to kill the troll, but it fell to the ground.
Mayleea watched him fall, then looked up. Another plated dragon was standing over it. Nálin was a blood red color except for the leather in his wings, his chest and belly plates and the leather fringe on the back of his neck. Those were all a shiny gold. He was big and muscular, much like Maltök, though Maltök was much leaner and had flat plates that lay flush against each other, while Nálin's overlapped each other. Nálin also had spikes covering most of his body. Back, neck, arms, legs, feet, tail and even the bony parts of his wings. Usually, from what Mayleea had seen, his personality matched his appearance.
"Thank you," she said nodding to him.
"Be more careful," he said gruffly, then turned and smashed several Orc who were battling with some men from Gondor.
Mayleea shook her head and set the troll on fire, then jumped into the sky. She flew up above the fight and watched for a moment. It seemed, with the dragon's help, Aragorn's armies were winning. Mayleea watched the plated dragons on the ground, tearing through the enemy's ranks so fast; the ones in the back were beginning to retreat. The dragons in the sky continued wreaking havoc even all the way back into Mordor.
Mayleea closed her eyes and sent her mind out to her dragons.
"Is everyone alright?"
There were several confirming answers and a few not so sure answers.
"Well no one is dead yet," Kára said.
She sounded angry.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she hissed.
Mayleea glanced around the battlefield and found her sitting atop the left hand side of the gate into Mordor. From what Mayleea could see, she was nursing a rather severe stab wound to her flank. Kára glanced at her then back up behind her.
"Pay attention to the sky! They are coming!"
Mayleea followed her gaze just as the tell tale screech of the Nazgúl could be heard over the din of battle. Two were missing, but that didn't make them any less lethal. Replacing those two missing however, was a mass of dragons. Mayleea dropped her head and growled.
"This is it," she said. "Keep in mind what I told you about the dragons. You may come into contact with someone you used to know. They are not the same."
Roars went up from the dragons and they took to the sky behind Mayleea. She swooped up and over the mountains to give them time to gather, and when they had, she turned on a down draft and turned back toward Mordor. She felt her dragons fear gripping her chest. She knew some of them could see friends or family in the enemy dragon's ranks.
"Close your minds to them!"she warned.
Her dragons roared as they formed ranks and flew over the battlefield toward the flying enemy. In the twenty seconds before they clashed, Mayleea realized this was much like the picture of the armies of men and Orc clashing. She ducked her head, took a breath and aimed a jet of fire right at the oncoming Nazgúl, but before the fire even left her mouth, and Eagle dropped out of the sky and took the Nazgúl down by his neck. Mayleea and the other dragons on her side pulled up to give the six Great Eagles time to take on the Nazgúl.
After the Fell Beasts were out of the way, Mayleea roared signaling the army to move forward. Her Dragons roared and charged forward, pawing the air as they went. It caught the other dragons off guard and for a moment, Mayleea's group had the upper hand. The first line knocked several of the dragons out of the sky, Mayleea leading them. The dragon she clashed with was large. She was a grayish color with blinding white fangs.
Mayleea dodged her claws and dug her beak into the dragon's neck. She screamed as Mayleea felt her windpipe and ripped it out. The dragon clutched at her neck for a moment, then fell from the sky. Mayleea watched her body fall, then land among the enemy's ranks, crushing several.
"Keep them away from our allies!" Mayleea yelled into her mind. "And when they fall, drop them on our enemies!"
Her army roared in agreement and another dragon crashed into Mayleea. She was somewhat smaller, but longer and thinner. Mayleea pulled back her front foot to smash the dragon's face, but the dragon ducked and returned with a blow of her own. Mayleea could feel her jaw crack under the dragon's front foot. Mayleea had stopped flapping when they had collided and they were now falling toward the ground, entangled in one another's limbs.
Mayleea roared and kicked out with her back legs, throwing the dragon off her and gaining some altitude. The other dragon rolled over just in time to stay above the tips of the Orc spears. She pawed the air as she climbed back up, following Mayleea. Mayleea glanced back down at the pursuer and found herself thinking that the dragon was very beautiful and was sad she had to kill her.
"Stop this!" she cried into her mind. "You don't have to continue on the side of Mordor. Come to the side of good!"
The dragon roared and swiped at Mayleea's belly. She roared and flapped higher. Mayleea couldn't put her claw on it, but the dragon was so familiar. Her wings were a soft pink leather that ended sharply in her shoulder where her skin turned orange cut by jagged black stripes down her back. The underside of her neck, chest, belly and tail had the same black stripes, but instead of orange, her skin was white. She roared again and fans appeared behind her jaw, much like that of the bearded lizards who lived by the rivers and streams. There were spikes coming out of each of her vertebra starting at the tip of her nose and continuing all the way down to the spade on the end of her tail. As she aimed another swipe at Mayleea, she noticed the other dragon's feet. They were more like paws. She had the feet of a lion. Mayleea started. The feet of a lion. Only one other dragon she had ever met had that same feature.
"Tell me who you are!" she shouted.
"You know me," she hissed. "Or you KNEW me."
She roared and flared her fans at Mayleea another time. Mayleea growled and flipped her tail around, catching the dragon in the face. She let out a confused cry and spiraled toward the ground. Mayleea caught her by the tail and closed her jaws around one of her horns. She held onto one of her wings so she couldn't get away, then flew to the outside of the battlefield. She threw the dragon onto the hill she and her army had been on not half an hour before. She came to a hard landing beside her and knocked the smaller dragon back to the earth with a strained grunt, then changed back to an Elf.
"Who are you?" she yelled jumping onto her chest and holding her short sword up under the dragon's chin.
The dragon glared at her with one small, dark eye.
"TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!" she screamed digging the knife into the soft flesh.
The dragon pulled away and growled slightly, but did no more.
"My name is Tónby."
Mayleea very nearly fell off the dragon's chest and backed away, knife still raised. Tónby rolled off her back and stood up, towering over Mayleea.
"It can't be," she said, letting her sword tip hit the ground.
Tónby shook herself off and nodded.
"Yes, it is."
She dropped her head and looked into Mayleea's face. Mayleea felt her face get hot and tears fall from each eye. She reached out a hand and gently placed it on Tónby's nose. The dragon closed her eyes and purred; much like Mayleea did when she was happy.
"You can't be – "
"Mayleea!"
They both jumped and Mayleea spun around.
"Mayleea where are you! We need you in the battle!"
It was Legolas. The connection with her strengthened tenfold and threw her off her feet. Tónby caught her with one foot and stood Mayleea back up. Tónby did a little hop and shook her head.
"Well, what do you say? Let's get in the fight shall we?"
Mayleea took a deep breath then a smile came across her face and she nodded. She put her sword back and phased back to her dragon and glanced at the smaller dragon by her side. She was watching Mayleea patiently, her fans and head spines laying flat. Mayleea grinned and roared then took to the sky, Tónby close on her tail. They soared into battle, but just as they got there, the enemy dragons and the Nazgúl seemed to be retreating.
"What's happening?" Tónby asked.
"I'm not sure," she answered "But I – "
But all at once, she knew. She could feel it. All the dragons from the other side and the Fell Beasts were flying back to Mt. Doom, and she heard a voice, quiet, desperately sad and hopeless voice in her mind.
"No," it whispered.
"No," she echoed. "NO!"
She let out a roar and with a powerful flap of her wings, she was charging forward.
"Catch them! Chase them down! Don't let them reach the mountain! Give Sam time!"
"Give Sam time?" Legolas questioned as she flew. "What about Frodo?"
Mayleea snorted and continued to fly until she heard a violent scream from below. She pulled up and looked over her shoulder. Tónby came to a stop a few feet in front of her.
"What? What is it?" Tónby asked.
"A Troll," Mayleea hissed. "Tónby with me, everyone else, keep those dragons away from Mt. Doom!"
There were several roars out in front of her as she and Tónby turned back. As they came back to the allies, Mayleea spotted the Troll. He was fighting none other than Aragorn. The soldiers of Gondor and the Orcs alike were giving them a wide birth as the Troll's huge blade collided with Aragorn's pushing them both to the ground. He hit the ground with so much force; Mayleea could feel it in her own chest. She heard Legolas yelling as Aragorn turned over and looked up at the beast.
Mayleea watched in horror as the Troll lifted his meaty foot and dropped it down onto Aragorn's chest. Without missing a beat, Aragorn pulled his knife from his hip and stuck it into his flesh. He roared, followed by Mayleea's roar, but before she reached the fight, she stopped and spun to face Mt. Doom, as did every other dragon on the battlefield. They and the Wizard and Elf could feel what was going on. Mayleea closed her eyes and opened them as Sam's.
She was looking down over a cliff into the disheartened face of Frodo. She heard Sam's voice yelling for Frodo to give him his hand. The wind whipped around, bringing ash and the smell of sulfur up at Sam's face. Frodo didn't move. He just stared up at Sam with big, sad eyes. Then Mayleea felt it again. Through Sam's eyes, she looked away from Frodo and over his shoulder into the lava far below. She zoomed in on a dark patch and saw it, glowing away. The Ring.
"Take my hand!" Sam yelled, and Frodo tried, but missed. "NO!"
Frodo looked down at the lava behind him then back up at Sam.
"Don't you let go," Sam warned. "Don't let go."
Frodo frowned and looked back up. Suddenly Mayleea growled into Sam's mind as he yelled.
"REACH!"
Frodo seemed to hear both of them yell for him, and he threw his hand up and caught Sam by the fingers. Sam yanked him up just as Mayleea caught sight of the Ring in the lava. It disappeared under the serface. All of a sudden there was a great shift. Mayleea felt the air change instantly and she roared signaling it to everyone, as if the mad scream from the Great Eye wasn't enough. Mayleea pulled her mind out of Sam's and turned to look at the fight.
The Troll seemed to forget about Aragorn and turned away from Mordor. He ran through the crowd of Gondor soldiers leading the enemy out of the battle. Mayleea watched for a moment then called to her troops.
"Don't let the dragons escape! I believe we can bring them back to their senses!"
Her dragon's heard her, but they didn't have to do much. All the dragon's, both enemy and ally alike, had stopped above Aragorn's army to watch the scene unfolding in front of them. Before their very eyes, the tower housing the eye had broken in the middle and was starting to fall. The eye looked around desperately as it fell, its light slowly going out.
Mayleea felt everyone around her bubble up with joy, and fear and surprise, then it was over. They eye exploded sending dirt and rocks in every direction, however the shockwave is what worried Mayleea. She heard everyone in the background of her mind and in the foreground of reality chanting Frodo's name. Pippin and Merry were jumping up and down, waving their little swords around. Mayleea was just as happy, but she knew something was coming, and it did. Mt Doom exploded.
Lava and smoke flew sky high and the earth shook. Mayleea could feel it, even in the sky. She and the other dragons watched as the ground below them gave a violent jolt, then began to give way. The Black Gate and the surrounding mountain fell forward and in as the enemy got swallowed up by the ground as it opened up. Rocks from the explosion flew out and knocked the Fell Beasts from the sky as they tried to escape. Now everyone's joy had turned to pain and terror, thinking Frodo and Sam had been swallowed up by the explosion, but Mayleea knew differently. She could feel them. They were alive and running for their lives from the lava. They had done it; and they were alive, stranded on a rock in the middle of the lava river. They were talking about the Shire, and how much they missed home. Then Sam broke her heart.
"Rosie Cotton dancing. If ever I was to marry someone, it would've been her. It would have been her."
He began to sob and Frodo sat up and put an arm around his shoulders.
"I'm glad to be with you, Samwise Gamgee." Frodo paused and took a few deep breaths. "Here at the end of all things."
Mayleea roared and flew down to Gandalf.
"They are alive," she said hovering above Gandalf. "I can feel them."
"Then we must find them!" Gandalf yelled.
"I will go with Mayleea to find them," Aragorn said walking up to them with a considerable limp.
"You are injured, My King," Mayleea pointed out quietly.
"Then it is good I will not have to walk into Mordor on foot," Aragorn said glancing at the couple hundred dragons above him.
Mayleea phased back to her Elf form and easily dropped out of the sky and to the ground. Before she could discuss any further with Gandalf and Aragorn who would go save the Hobbits, someone looped their arms around her waist and picked her up. She yelped and was quickly put down. She turned to face her comrade, and Gimli smiled up at her.
"We've done it m'lady! HA HA we've done it!"
She grinned and hugged him back.
"Yes we have! But now we must get Frodo and Sam back. I will go and find them. Maltök, you and Tónby will accompany me. Kára you will take the rest of us back to Moria. The enemy dragons too."
Mayleea looked up at all the dragons together. The she could hardly distinguish between the enemy dragons and her dragons. She smiled up at them and they looked at one another.
"Take everyone home."
Kára nodded and roared. They followed without complaint. Mayleea was pleased to see all of the dragons helping one another as they flew.
"Be careful Kára."
"I will."
"And tell Paladin – "
Kára interrupted her with a snicker and nodded. Mayleea shook her head and turned around and was surprised once again to find Legolas staring at her. She smiled brightly at his dirty face. She assumed she didn't look much better, but he crossed the space between them, knocking Gimli and Aragorn to one side. He reached her and before she had time to say anything; even to think of anything to say, his lips were pressed against hers and his hands were holding firmly onto her upper arms.
He pressed himself against her until she wasn't sure where he ended and she began. For a moment her hands held their surprised stance; out in front of her, on either side of Legolas' head, but finally, she relaxed. Just as she put her hands on the back of his neck however, he pulled away. She frowned.
"Legolas? What is it?"
He shook his head like he'd made a mistake and went to pull away, but Mayleea caught his face between her palms and smiled.
"Don't you dare," she said grinning and leaned in.
She met his lips gently. He instantly brought his hands up to her face. He pulled her closer with one hand on her lower back, and she eagerly agreed by throwing her arms around his neck. They were so wrapped up in one another that it took Aragorn clearing his throat to bring them back to where they were.
They stopped and leaned out of each other's embrace, both a little red cheeked. Mayleea cleared her throat and jumped up. She phased back to a dragon and climbed up a ways.
"Shall we then? Mustn't keep the Hobbits waiting," Mayleea said with a dragon grin.
Then it was the Elf's turn to grin. He turned to Aragorn.
"I will go help rescue the Hobbits in your stead, My Lord."
Aragorn smirked and waved them off.
"Bring them home. Safely."
"Good luck my boy," Gandalf said with a grin. "Bring them to Rivendell!"
Here you are everyone! Hope you enjoyed! Please tell me what you think!