The Return of the Ring

[Nariel]

Hi guys, sorry abou the wait... had some login problems. But now I'm back, albeit with a different name... but here's the beginning of this story...

Dr. Kathy Martinez wiped her forehead and took a long sip of bottled water. Days in the San Andreas area were murderously hot. But she and her third year archaeology students had been out here for a week, investigating one of the many extinct volcanoes in the Los Angeles area. This particular one lay directly on the San Andreas Fault line and therefore very fascinating to archaeologists, considering that it had not erupted in about six thousand years, even though the area around it was extremely seismically active. She thought it time to remind her students of this. Picking up her bullhorn, she shouted into it.
"Remember that this area is still active. If you feel any tremors at all, no matter how small, tell me immediately." As if on cue, a large tremor shook the area, knocking her and several students off their feet.
"Dr. Martinez! I think you should look at this!" One of the students called. She recognized her to be Shuina Park. There were two others with her. One was Mara Atkins and the toher, a man about her age, she didn't recognize.
She wiped some of the dust off her clothes and headed in their direction. When she approached, she saw the three students staring intently into the dirt. A small crack had opened, and inside it sat a gold Ring. The Ring was placed on what had to be a finger bone.
"Fascinating," she mused.
"What is it, Doctor?" asked shuina
"There shouldn't be any traces of human activity here buried that deep. The only way anything could be buried there would be if it was thrown into the volcano while it was active. And if that happened, both the ring and the skeleton should have been consumed by the magma."
"Maybe someone buried it here after the volcano died," Mara suggested.
"Improbable. I inspected this area before we came out here to make sure it hadn't already been used. The ground was completely unbroken. And if this skeleton was buried thousands of years ago, it should have decomposed. No, this must have happened when the volcano was active, which is also impossible. But you all know what Sherlock Holmes said. Let's open up the area."
As they dug, it became evident that the skeleton was not human. It was strangely formed, almost like a dwarf, but not quite. Dr. Martinez was overjoyed to find that the skeleton was complete. Except for one thing... Near the skeleton, lay another finger bone. It wasn't like the others and didn't seem to fit anywhere. Odd. And the Ring... that Ring was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Upon the completion of their excavation of the skeleton, Shuina Park paled.
Placing a hand over her mouth, she stepped cautiously away from the area, whispering under her breath. "Sweet Illuvatar," she said.
"What is it?" Asked Dr. Martinez