Author's Note-Yeah, I know. Really short chapter. Please bear with me here.

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Several days later, a few men walked into a building, laughing and talking between themselves. There were several men who were already, laughing and drinking with each other. A few men who were already there looked over at them in mild confusion as to what was going on and so funny.

"He really did that. I couldn't believe it when I heard it! It is so much like a story from the days of old," laughed one of the men who just walked inside.

"What's so funny?" asked one of the men sitting at a table.

Two were sitting at a table and were wondering what was so funny as the group walked inside.

"What'll you hear the story we just heard from a few men the other day. There's this man, named Althar, who actually went into Elven territory with them and a whole bunch of other men," the man started as he sat down next to the two.

His companions also sat down and the group looked at each other. The two men had taken sips from their drinks as the man said that and they spit it out once they heard it.

"Into Elven territory? What was the man thinking? It can be very dangerous to go uninvited into Elven territory," asked the younger of the two man.

"I've heard of this man. He can be dangerous when provoked and he is not afraid to injure someone when needed. Or even kill," the older man said. "He is a very stubborn man."

"I don't know but after a few days, he and his men found two elves sitting in a pond. Servants they were. They took them as prisoners but they escaped because of two other elves that were nearby and had what happened," the man continued.

"What? Unbelievable!" cried the other.

The man shook his head before deciding to continue with the story.

"They escaped but Althar and his men found them again in a cave some distance from the camp in the morning. What makes this story even better is that Elven guards from the king's home actually arrived to find these two slaves. It looks like the king really wanted to see those two back," the man explained.

"I really don't see this happening. Althar and his men travel into Elven territory and take two Elven servants as prisoners? The two are rescued and then what happens?" the older man wondered.

"Amazing, I think. I've had them repeat it to me several times and I still don't believe it. The guards came for the elves but what they saw they cannot believe is from this world. As they lay hidden near the cave out of sight of the guards, they hear a scream. Soon after, a creature emerged with one of the other elves on its back. Don't know where it was being taken but it had wings on its back like a bird but it wasn't a bird. It looked like a creature out of a legend," the man explained before he went on to describe the creature even further from what he heard about it.

"The only creature of any legend that I've heard which have wings are the gargoyles," the older of the two men said as he placed a hand on his chin.

"Gargoyles? That idea is preposterous brother! They haven't existed before, why should they now?" wondered the younger brother.

"Maybe but we shouldn't dismiss it so easily. I do not think I will believe until I actually see one. I really don't believe in creatures that have wings, claws and a roar," the older brother said. "Maybe they have and now we all believe them to be extinct."

"Believe whatever you want to. They know what they saw and they believe it fully. They know they didn't imagine it. I couldn't persuade them otherwise that it might have been something else," the man told the two brothers.

"Where did these men go to?" wondered the older brother.

"I've been told they were in Mirkwood. I suggest you not go around there anytime. If the stories turn out to be true about this creature, then it could bea very dangerous place to go. You might have heard about the reputation of gargoyles from the stories that have been told," the man told them.

The two nodded as the man stood up and walked away from the two along with the others that he arrived with. The two brothers watched them leave the building and the younger one laughed in disbelief once they did. The younger brother looked at the older one. He narrowed his eyes at the look on the older brother's face.

"Boromir, are you really starting to believe their story? I mean, winged creatures which appear out of nowhere? It's poosibly gargoyles? There are no such creatures as these but in stories," the younger brother wondered.

"You just never know what's out there but I'm not going to believe them anytime soon Faramir. The story they tell seems too far fetched. You only hear of gargoyles in stories told by older people to keep the interest of the younger ones," the older replied.

"Of course. That's the only way you hear about them," Faramir said to his older brother. "And I doubt that this rumour will ever be confirmed."

"No, it won't. Unless we happen to meet someone from Mirkwood and I doubt that we ever will," Boromir agreed as they watched the men head out the door.

Faramir slightly shrugged his shoulders as he stared out the door.

'Is there really such a creature or is there not? What did those men see in the woods of Mirkwood? I would really like to know,' Faramir thought to himself, placing a hand on his chin.

He looked at the closed door, in the direction the men went in. Boromir glanced at his brother before staring at the door as well.

'I was not there and I will never be there. Guess I will never know then,' he thought to himself. 'The curiousity of what it was will always be with me.'

TBC...