The minds of men were easily corrupted, as were the hearts of dwarves and the minds of monsters. Wizards and elves had experienced evil before and during my creation, but still they fell. Hobbits... hobbits though, were strange creatures.
I encountered my first hobbit after centuries of tortured slumber. Spite burned my being like poison. After years of solitude my single purpose was still to rule them all-humans, dwarves, elves, and goblins alike. Right now, I was so, so close. I could hear the leathery sound of wings, the same wings that would fly me back to Sauron.
The hobbit, who was referred to as Frodo, had nearly lost control. Through clouds of fire and agony I could see his mundane figure. He looked childish and small, matted hair curling and knotting into patterns. His eyes belonged to that of an infant, far too innocent and open.
Frooodooo.
My voice crawled beneath his scalp like parasitic worms, ones he could not rid himself of in his fitful sleep. Frodo's struggling morals could be molded into any shape I chose-into evil, malice, anger. He would walk alone in the malicious underworld of Middle Earth. His jaw clenched and his eyes rolled up to the sky. I pushed even further.
Frooodooo.
The need to return to my master was an unnatural need the Hobbit would never understand. The evil I possessed reflected in his haunted eyes. The windows to his soul revealed a bruised, weary soul. Despite our travels together, he was not broken. Men I traveled with fell for temptation within hours. Weak ones within minutes. Though I had rested against his chest for months now, he would, not. Break.
Give him the ring! Give the ring to him! I seethed.
History would repeat, I assured myself. Frodo was just like the heroes that had fallen before him. Suddenly I was plunged back into darkness, and Frodo went flying. To my horror, the dragon meant to escort me home was shot out of the sky. All because Frodo's companion Sam had pushed him out of the way. The two struggling figures faded into dark shapes. Frodo held a knife above his friend, prepared to strike.
Kill him! Kill him now!
"It's me... Sam!" his friend said with a broken heart.
Kill-
Frodo's mind slipped out of my grasp as he pushed away from Sam. I realized with spite that I had lost Frodo to a clumsy, chubby hobbit. I had come painfully close to returning to my master.
"I can't do this, Sam." Frodo spoke in a hushed tone.
"I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here..."
Frodo slipped further away from me, completely out the reach of my tendrils of influence. For now I would hover around the back of his mind, but his heart remained moral and uncorrupted. After all, each parasite needed a host, no matter how distasteful.