"It began with the forging of the Great Rings.

Three were given to the Elves, immortal, wisest, fairest of all beings.

Seven to the Dwarf Lords, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls.

And Nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of Men who, above all else, desire power.

For within these rings was bound the strength and will to govern each race.

But they were all of them deceived, for another ring was made.

In the land of Mordor, in the fires of Mount Doom, the Dark Lord Sauron forged in secret a Master Ring to control all others...and into this Ring he poured his cruelty, his malice and his will to dominate all life.

One Ring to rule them all...

One by one the Free lands of Middle earth fell to the power of the ring. But there were some who resisted. A last alliance of Men and Elves marched against the armies of Mordor. On the slopes of Mount Doom they fought for the freedom of Middle- Earth. Victory was near! But the power of the Ring could not be undone. It was in this moment, when all hope had faded, that Isildur, son of the king, took up his father's sword.

Sauron, the enemy of the Free Peoples of Middle Earth, was defeated.

The Ring passed to Isildur...who had this one chance to destroy evil forever.

But the hearts of Men are easily corrupted. And the Ring of Power has a will of its own. It betrayed Isildur to his death. And some things that should not have been forgotten...were lost.

History became legend...legend became myth.

And for two and a half thousand years the Ring passed out of all knowledge. Until-."

The Lady Galadriel looked and saw the attention of her pupil had wandered to a brightly colored butterfly that happened to be passing through. She crossed her delicate arms slowly. She cleared her throat to get the girl's attention.

It was probably a mistake to bring a girl like her outside on a day like this. The sun was shining on this warm spring morning. There was a small chance that she was going to be focusing on her lessons with all the beauty of nature surrounding her.

The young girl's head snapped to her teacher. Her pale cheeks filled with color. "I-I'm sorry, it was just…" she looked back to the insect that was flittering away. She looked to the lady again. "I am listening. I promise."

"Then what was I just discussing?"

"The…" she searched for the answer. Her blue eyes brightened as she remembered, "…Ring! The One Ring."

Lady Galadriel nodded and noticed the girl's eyes wandering again. "That will be enough for today; I believe you wanted to see the trees on the edge of the garden?"

The girl nodded vigorously. "Yes, please."

The beautiful female elf held out her hand. "Then we shall go. Come, Azriela."

The girl took her mistress's hand and followed her through the garden.


The picture of two men, one driving a cart filled with unknown treasures and the other on horseback, and a woman on foot would bring up the question of why was a young, able bodied, man and an elderly man allowing a woman to walk. Surely a man with some years under his belt would have some sort of manners when it comes to treating a woman with respect. Surely the young man would volunteer to walk so that the woman would not tire out.

No, no they would not. For the alternate was far worse. One of them would be tired and the woman in question would become travel sick in a matter of seconds.

Azriela, among her many other faults, hated horses. Not only due to their nature as one of the more stuck up creatures she had come across, but mostly due to the fact that once her feet left the ground she would turn greener than a lush meadow on a summer's day.

Her master, a man of many years with the long grey beard to prove it, drove the wagon. He hummed a merry tune that was getting on Cobryn's nerves, but the man said nothing.

There was her "protector", Cobryn. He was a stern faced man who seemed to look down on everything he saw. His eyes were a pale green, his black hair fell to about his shoulders, and his cheekbones were sharp and connected to produce a sort of pointy chin. He was an impressive looking man and, if it weren't for his attitude, would have likely married well a long time ago.

Then there was also Aza herself. She was a tiny girl, about average height, but slimly built. However, underneath the thick robe she wore, one wouldn't be able to tell. Her hair was rich earth brown and fell to about her waist. Her eyes were a twinkling blue.

As they approached their destination, a small figure emerged from the trees on their right.

"You're late."

Gandalf, not turning his head, said to the Hobbit, "A Wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."

Aza could hardly contain her laughter as the two held each other's stares for a few seconds. Finally the two burst into laughter. With the mood broken, the young woman also began to laugh.

Frodo, a young Hobbit with wide blue eyes and curly brown hair, leapt into the cart. "It's wonderful to see you, Gandalf!" He shouted, hugging the wizard.

They broke and Gandalf said, "You didn't think I'd miss your Uncle Bilbo's birthday?"

Frodo looked over at Aza and Cobryn. "Who are they?"

"My apprentice, I do believe I've told you of her. At least your uncle should have," he gestured to Aza, who smiled. "Azriela. And this is Cobryn, her companion."

Cobryn merely gave a disinterested look at the Hobbit and looked away. Long ago, Aza had warned him that if he couldn't say anything nice he shouldn't say anything at all. It had taken months of conditioning, but it was finally accomplished.

The young Hobbit's eyes widened, "Azriela Dragon Tongue?"

Aza looked to her master, "Is that what they're calling me now?"

Gandalf gave a nod.

"Uncle Bilbo has told me how you confronted the dragon," Frodo moved so that he could talk to her. "You talked to it."

Cobryn gave a snort at the awe in Frodo's voice.

"It's not like I killed it," Aza said, trying to brush it off. She gave Cobryn a look and turned back to Frodo

Frodo sat in the seat next to Gandalf and they continued to make their way through the Shire. Turning to the Wizard Frodo finally said, "What news of the outside world? Tell me everything!"

Gandalf looked down at the hobbit and, with a merry tone, said, "What, everything? Far too eager and curious for a Hobbit. Most unnatural..."

Aza gave a smile she joked, "What will the neighbors say?"

"Well, what can I tell you? Life in the wide world goes on much as if it has past age. Full of its own comings and goings, scarcely even aware of the existence of Hobbits," Gandalf said, "for which I am very thankful."

They passed some Hobbits setting up tents for the party.

The young woman smiled at the simplicity of it all. She had missed the quiet and simple life she had led before all this excitement.

"Ah, the long expected party," Gandalf muttered.

"So, how Bilbo? I hear this is going to be quite the party," Aza said, looking up at Frodo.

She noticed how blue the Hobbit's eyes were as he looked down at her, "You know Bilbo...he's got he whole place in an uproar."

"Oh, well...that should please him," Gandalf said.

"Half the Shire's been invited..."

"Good gracious, me," Aza said in a joking manner, "and me without my party dress."

Frodo then said, quite seriously, "He's up to something."

"Oh, really?" said Gandalf and turned his head to avoid meeting Frodo's eyes.

"Alright then..keep your secrets. Before you came along we Bagginses were very well thought of."

"Indeed?"

"Never had any adventures or did anything unexpected."

"If you're referring to the incident with the Dragon...I was barely involved...all I did was give your Uncle a little nudge out the door."

Aza, under her breath, said, "It was a bit more than a nudge."

Frodo smiled, "Whatever you did...you've been officially labeled as a Disturber of the Peace."

"Oh, really?"

They passed by a house and a Hobbit looked at the trio of strangers with suspicion. Cobryn gave the old Hobbit a glare that made him turn. Aza looked to her companion, he was under control but he was not on his best behavior as she had asked him to be prior to their arrival in the Shire.

A gaggle of children followed the cart from behind.

Aza, noticing their presence, smiled. With a small movement of her fingers set off a few sparklers in the back of the cart. The children laughed and shouted with glee at the excitement.

"If you use them all now," Gandalf said, with a twinkle in his eye that betrayed his approval of the use of her magic, "there will be none for tonight."

"It's a waste," Cobryn grumbled at her.

Aza rolled her eyes at Cobryn. To her master she said, "It was just a bit of harmless fun. I promise to wait until tonight."

Gandalf nodded at her and turned his head back to the road.

Frodo stood up in the cart as Gandalf pulled the reigns of the horses to a halt. "Gandalf... I'm glad you're back." He looked to the walking woman and said, "It was a pleasure to meet you Miss Azriela."

"So am I, dear boy...so am I."

"That's Aza to you, Frodo," Aza called out as the Hobbit jumped from the cart and scampered off.

The three travelers finally reached a hobbit hole. At the gate hung a sign which read "NO ADMITTANCE EXCEPT ON PARTY BUSINESS."

Cobryn looked to his mistress and Aza nodded, allowing him to stay with the cart. The man eyed the small creatures with distrust and distaste.

The master and his apprentice walked past the sign and up to the door. Gandalf, using the end of his staff, rapped against the front door.

From within the home an older, cranky voice called out, "No, thank you! We don't want any more visitors, well wishers, or distant relations."

"And what about very old friends?"