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

I decided I needed to have a look. I swooped in behind a bolder and shrunk my body to Gollum's size, and peered over a small cliff to see two sleeping bodies in a cave. They looked like children to me, until the thinner one rolled over and I 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. A smell I wasn't aware of, yet it struck fear into my heart. I leapt away from it into the air, and with one great flap of my massive wings, I propelled myself 30 feet up. I hovered there for a second trying to decipher the odd feeling of fear I had, then it struck me.

That was the ring of power I had heard so much about. But of coarse I had only heard whispers from not very reliable sources, but they were mostly true non the less. Also, from these same sources, I 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 I was doing, I turned and headed for Rohan. That was the last place I heard them to be. For some reason, I knew I needed to get the message out to them that the two with the ring were alright… for now.

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

I rarely chose to be that big however. It was easier to blend into the sky when I was the size of a hobbit. Being the last of my kind, I chose to draw as little as attention to myself as possible. Though my kind was immortal like many of the creatures of middle earth, back when there were many of us, we chose to be in every battle, and that proved to be our downfall. Now I was the last one, and without a male, there was no hope for the continuance of our race.

For almost 50 years now I have flown alone. I had cared for nothing and no one but myself. I had never let any of the peoples of middle earth see me, and I was sure every race had forgotten about the dragons that once roamed the land, and owned the skies. Like every race, some of us were good and others sided with Mordor. On many occasions we met in battle and fought as if we were different races, killing all who stood in our way.

By the time I had finished reminiscing, I was gliding over the huge white towers of Minas Tirith. I glanced down and with my incredibly enhanced dragon vision, I could see the Steward of Gondor looking over his kingdom. I wondered where the real heir to the throne of Gondor was. Years ago, before the ring of power came into existence, I met Isildur. I had pledged to help him and Gondor anyway I could in the coming years. Little did I know I would be helping the man who turned the One Ring loose on the world.

I snorted in anger at myself, and let fire spray from between my teeth. In 20 minutes I passed Edoras and in 45 minutes I found who I was looking for. I 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. The Dwarf had fallen pathetically far behind the other two, and the man and Elf had stopped to wait for him.

I 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 I had darted into. I was waiting to see what they would do.

"Who's there?" yelled the man.

I was immediately entranced by his voice. It was rough and rocky, much like his face. There was dirt streaked across his face and his black hair hung in tangled wet strands around 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 weeks growth of beard which made him look even more ruggedly handsome.

"Show yourself!" hey 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 Gimly," 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 I 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."

I let my eyes roam over the soft features of the Elf as he spoke again.

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

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

"My name is Mayleea."

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

"And I am from the misty mountains."

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

"She is not dangerous," he said simply.

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

"What is she?" asked Gimly stepping forward.

I growled low in my chest. I hadn't had to trust anyone for over 50 years, and a Dwarf was certainly not going to be the one I trusted first. An Elf, probably, a man, maybe, but a Dwarf? Never. Gimly backed away holding his ax at the ready. I mirrored his steps. I moved forward as he moved back, and with each step I grew a little bigger until my shoulders came to the top of Legolas's head, which meant my head was far above the Dwarf. Gimly and Aragorn backed away, but Legolas just looked up at me, amazement in his eyes.

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

He stretched out a hand that I watched carefully. I snapped at it once, but only half-heartedly. When he didn't pull it back I snorted and shook my head frustrated, but when his long fingertips gently brushed my skin, or scales, it wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. His pale skin shone brightly against the firey scales on my chest.

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

"To long," I said letting my head fall to eye level with him.

He seemed mesmerized with my body. They all were. After a few minutes I let Aragorn touch my head and eventually Gimly was even allowed to come near me. Without his ax of coarse. I became small again and let Legolas run his hands down my shiny side, curly horns, and even my leathery wings. He playfully knocked on the hard plates on my chest and belly and measured his hands to my front feet. My feet were much bigger than his hands, even when I was as small as I could get.

After a few minutes of this Legolas and I both sensed something coming. We crouched low in unison, and Aragorn and Gimly followed our lead. We all waited for what was coming, though none of us knew what it was yet, we were in for a big surprise, or at least Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimly were.