Aug. 13, 2014 Additional Note: I've taken a moment to revise this for capitalization, punctuation, and spelling before moving it to the Hobbit section of the site (It was in Lord of the Rings, from way back when Lord of the Rings still only had a couple thousand stories in it), but it is otherwise unchanged. It's a curious look into my past, and a helpful reminder of how far I've come as a writer. As it is, it's still a fair tale if I do say so myself. Below is the original A/N that accompanied the story, and so on.

This inspiration struck me as i was re-reading(for the fourth time) LOTR, during the part in the second chapter where Gandalf is explaining about the ring, and is saying that several of the rings forged for the Dwarf Lords were swallowed by dragons. R+R, okay?

.=*=.

"Is everyone ready?" The diving instructor asked. The small class of 4 nodded. A tall slender woman in her late forties, Marian, had dark curly hair and sparkling blue eyes. The next over was a shorter man, Daniel, who was Marian's husband. He, too, had dark hair, but his eyes were a rich brown. After that was another man, Joseph, in his early twenties with light blonde hair and muscled physique. Last, but not at all least, was a average height teenager, 17 to be exact. Her name was Angela, and she had jet black hair with bright lavender eyes, though they were blue without her contacts.

They were getting ready to go on a lake dive at an inland lake in Tennessee.

"Alright, everyone have their equipment?"

The group again nodded.

"Miss Daniels?"

"Yes Angela?"

"What will we find at the bottom of the lake?"

"Well, this is a very big lake, and I've only led about fifteen or so dives here, so I can't be one to answer that."

"Have there ever been any casualties on any of these dives?" Daniel asked, looking out at the water nervously.

"Honey, you aren't aqua-phobic?" His wife asked him.

"No, of course not... I'm drowning-aphopic."

The instructor laughed. "No, there have been no deaths on any of these dives. Some of the locals say the you should never ever approach that very epicenter of the lake, where it's deepest. I say poppycock, but whatever floats your boat."

"Are we allowed to go there though?" Joseph asked.

"Yes. Now, everyone have their equipment on?"

"Check!"

"Yes."

"Aye, Aye Captain!"

"Yes Ma'am."

"Alright, everyone off the boat! You are free to roam, but check in every ten minuets."

"Got it," Angela said just before putting in her breathing piece and jumping overboard. She headed straight for the bottom of the lake, right at the center, anxious to see what on earth worried the locals. Was there a shipwreck down there? Pleasant tingles ran down her spine. 'Yeah... and there are yet skeletons that lay there, undisturbed for eons...' she thought.

Training her light on below her the saw what looked like a glitter in the distant gloom. Diving faster she approached it. 'And lost treasure! Forever gone from memory...' Another chill went down her spine and she grinned inwardly. Something right out of those horror novels she read. She was within ten feet of the bottom by now, and had perhaps 1 minute before she should check in, so she pressed a series of beeps on a special communicator to indicate that she was okay. Three beeps replied, signaling message received.

'Okay, what's down here...' Training her light on the ground, she hag to stop herself from gasping out loud. It was nearly like a temple! Twenty-two large green spikes rose from the ground, covered in algae from age, eleven on each side, curving inwards, almost... 'Almost like the rib cage of a great beast of long ago...' But more astonishing were the great jewels that lay on the lake bed around it. Following the barely visible ridge a short way she came upon something that confirmed her thoughts.

'It's a great skull, looks almost like an alligators, long and strong, i can almost see where the powerful muscles were attached... but...' She pondered for a moment. Then she went back and examined the 'rib cage'. She dove into the great area of the belly, sifting the jewels that had lay undisturbed for ages upon ages, lost to all modern memory.

'Heh... jools..' She thought, recalling a part in the Lord of the Rings where local hobbits were discussing the riches that Bilbo had lay away before he left, and vanished. Her hand fell over a ring, silver, with a Hematite stone set in the silver. Rubbing the alge off it, she admired it. She tried to put it on, but it was far to large for her. At first, at least. Then it sort of, shrank to accommodate her finger. Angela was slightly startled. A slight power seemed to course though her. She tugged the ring off and dropped it, afraid to touch it again. She moved on, glancing at the other beautiful things, everything from raw gems, to cut jewels, to gold and silver medallions.

'Whoever owned this must have been awfully rich.' she mused. She swam a bit longer before finding a stick poking out of the ground, right below the creatures left chest area. She swam down to it and tugged it free. It was a long, black arrow. She ran her fingers along it, before an image came to her mind and she dropped it.

The image had been a man, an old black thrush upon his shoulder, pulling his bow with a black arrow, aiming at a great dark shadow flying above, it's stomach glittering in all but above it's left breast.

She shook her head and dropped the arrow. Swimming back to the 'head' she examined it further. It looked nothing like anything she would think this huge. It would have to be... She shook her head again. 'I bet its a dinosaur or something.' Then she looked back at the jewels. "It certainly isn't... No. I'm thinking crazy.'

It being time to check in again she pressed the code into her communicator, and waited for the reply. Once it came she glanced back at the form. On sudden impulse she dived back to the rib cage and picked from the ground what was considered a tiny gem compared to the others, a flattish, oval, beautifully cut ruby. Slipping it into her diving slippers, she set for the surface. Glancing back, she swore she saw a red glow in the eye sockets of the skeleton, and a winking of a silver and Hematite ring sparkle from the abdomen of the creature.

'Namárië, Smaug.' Angela half smirked around her mouthpiece.

As she rose to the surface she thought about what was down there. 'I won't tell a soul, I'll keep your secret, the Secret of Esgaroth.' She felt almost at peace. Glancing back down she saw the half shadow of the figure of the Creature. 'Smaug the Dragon.' She mentally corrected herself.

"Did anyone find anything worth note?" the instructor was saying now that everyone was back on shore.

"We found that looked like it could be part of a wooden path! It was fascinating, so well preserved!" Marian was gushing, turning to her husband for support.

"Yeah, actually it was."

"I found what I would swear was china pieces, but i doubt it. I didn't get close enough to look."

'Yes, I found Smaug.' Angel thought. "Not much. Some wood, lakeweed and algae I guess." She said aloud. The instructor nodded.

"A lot of stuff people have seen before. Angela, you braved the middle of the lake. What all was there?"

"Not much. I wouldn't go there again though, very very dark, lots of algae. If it weren't for gravity I wouldn't know which way was up. Got caught in lakeweed a few times as well. Nothing serious, but I'd tell future divers to avoid it." 'Good lie, keep them out of the area too!' She congratulated herself. The instructor looked at her piercingly, but finally dismissed everyone to change back to their normal clothes. She called Angela aside.

"Miss Angela, I know you lied, and I'm proud of you for not reporting what you saw. And yes, that is Smaug." She lifted the edge of her cap and pushed her hair aside a bit to reveal pointed ears. "I was there." She smiled and winked before walking off, leaving Angela stunned. Finally, Angela moved, getting dressed and driving home. Upon reaching her house she collapsed into bed and fell asleep directly.

Waking the next morning she recalled the events of the previous day. Did she really see Smaug? Impossible. Middle Earth didn't exist. So she passed the whole thing off as a dream. Until she found in the bottom of her equipment bag, a bit larger than a quarter, and oval shaped, a finely cut ruby.

#*^*#