Arwen was very fond of the winged horse Kael gave her, naming it Eärendlos, meaning "Star Horse."
In the following days, Kael shuttled back and forth between Weathertop and Isengard.
Among the newly bred creatures, the three-headed hellhound Cerberus grew the fastest, like an inflating balloon, growing visibly each day. In just a month, it had grown to over two meters tall, larger than an adult warg.
From this growth rate, it was impossible to guess where its growth limit lay.
This size wasn't surprising given its mixed heritage. Dragons, basilisks, and giant octopuses were all creatures of immense proportions, and even wargs were far from small.
The creature's appetite matched its genetics. It had outgrown milk within days and now consumed meat exclusively, emptying a large basin each day with frightening efficiency.
Most intriguingly, despite the three heads sharing a single digestive system, they retained individual personalities and fierce rivalries. Each meal became a battleground as the heads snarled and competed for every morsel, their territorial instincts unchanged by their shared anatomy.
Though the three-headed hellhound couldn't speak, it was very intelligent and could understand Kael's words.
Under his training, the three heads took turns sleeping, ensuring that twenty-four hours a day, at least one head was on guard duty.
The three-headed hellhound's abilities were also increasingly apparent. The three heads' teeth and saliva contained deadly poison, could breathe scorching flames, could spray highly corrosive acid, and had copper skin and iron bones, with very strong physical and magical resistance.
Aslan's wings had grown considerably, now enabling short bursts of flight at low altitude as he practiced his aerial maneuvers.
Buckbeak flourished under his adoptive mother's attentive care. Despite the mare's persistent attempts to encourage herbivorous habits, his eagle nature dominated, driving him to hunt small prey like mice, rabbits, and groundhogs across the meadows and forests.
Gandalf returned from the great plains of Rohan mounted upon a magnificent gray steed even taller than the mare. Its coat was like silver under the sun's rays, yet dark as shadow when night fell.
This noble beast was also of the Mearas, and indeed their chief. Fleet as wind with endurance beyond measure, it could run at speed for days with scarcely a pause for rest.
Most remarkably, it possessed the high intelligence of its kind, understanding the speech of men and showing no fear before the dragon's terrible presence, instead greeting Smaug with bold, warning neighs.
Gandalf named it Shadowfax. According to him, when selecting horses, he immediately chose this king among horses, spending three days running hundreds of miles before finally taming it.
Kael's eyes also lit up seeing this horse. With Gandalf's permission, he took some of Shadowfax's blood, planning to crossbreed it with Great Eagles.
He wanted to see if he could create more hippogriffs and flying horses, forming a new species population.
Gandalf was also amazed by Kael's magical crossbreeding methods, especially after seeing the griffin. His eyes could hardly look away, full of praise for this creature combining the lion's courage and majesty with the Great Eagle's mastery of the sky. It perfectly matched his aesthetic preferences.
This made Shadowfax jealous and angry, ignoring Gandalf for several days and showing displeasure toward the griffin, always wanting to give it a kick when it wasn't paying attention.
The griffin was not to be outdone either. Though still a newborn griffin, it was very smart and highly intelligent, deliberately provoking the horse king.
For a time, Isengard was extremely lively.
Gandalf was a busy person who couldn't stay still. After not staying long at Isengard, he mounted Shadowfax and set off again.
Kael also returned to Weathertop.
For Isengard's security, Kael wasted no time putting Cerberus to work. Despite being barely a month old, the formidable creature was officially assigned to guard the entrance and exit of Orthanc Tower.
Aslan was entrusted to Thorondor for training to begin participating in patrols of the surrounding area.
At this time, Kael journeyed personally to the depths of Fangorn Forest, seeking audience with the Ents to request their aid in watching over the lands around Isengard.
The woodlands encircling Isengard teemed with ancient trees, each serving as vigilant sentinels for the Ents, who could perceive all that moved within their domain through the whispered voices of root and branch.
Kael bore no secrets from these ancient shepherds of the forest, nor harbored any intent to fell their charges as the treacherous Saruman had done.
To Treebeard, eldest of the Ents, such a request was but a small service, and he consented without hesitation.
Moreover, the compact served the Ents well, for Kael pledged not only to spare every tree around Isengard but also to plant new groves throughout the region. For beings whose very purpose was the protection of growing things, no arrangement could be more welcome.
Returning to Hogwarts Castle, Kael first went to the fertile land below the mountain where he had previously buried the gold essence. As farmers joyfully harvested their wheat fields, he dug up the gold essence from the ground.
The gold essence bore runes of harvest and abundance. After being buried in the field, it had absorbed the earth's energy and emanated a heavy, solid aura.
Kael brought the gold essence back to the castle, dried it under the sun for seven days, then found a thousand-year-old oak tree entwined with mistletoe in a valley of the Weathertop Hills.
He magically carved a tree hollow in its trunk, inserted the gold essence now inscribed with healing and life runes, then cast spells to heal the hollow closed.
Next, he just needed to wait slowly until autumn and winter came, when the oak bore fruit and mistletoe bloomed, then extract the gold essence from within.
Then he could begin crafting Hufflepuff's Cup.
Such magical ritual was ancient Celtic natural magic, and it was also what made crafting Hufflepuff's Cup different from making Gryffindor's Sword and Ravenclaw's Diadem.
Having completed this task, Kael refocused his attention on other matters.
First was the ore containing Sulfur of the Soul that he had brought back from the Paths of the Dead.
Sulfur of the Soul was formed from ghosts' tears falling on ore, containing the power of souls.
He cast the ore into a furnace and began slowly smelting and extracting.
After over a month, he finally extracted pure Sulfur of the Soul.
Among the materials for making the Philosopher's Stone, both Mercury of the Mind and Sulfur of the Soul had been collected, leaving only the final "Salt of the Body."
Elrond had given specific locations for the first two, but the most likely place for this final "Salt of the Body" was in Hildórien, the birthplace of humanity.
Hildórien was located in the east of Middle-earth. Over the long ages, its position had become unknown to all. Even the widely learned Elrond didn't know its exact location.
So this final ingredient needed to be found by himself.
More importantly, the east was within Sauron's sphere of influence. If Kael went east seeking Salt of the Body, he would likely encounter obstacles from Sauron's forces.
So before going east, he needed to make thorough preparations to deal with problems he might encounter.
Moreover, he planned to craft both Hufflepuff's Cup and the Resurrection Stone before leaving, to further enhance his strength and foundation.
Hufflepuff's Cup was already in progress, just waiting for the right time to begin crafting.
So during this waiting period, Kael focused his attention on the Resurrection Stone.
The Resurrection Stone, as one of the Deathly Hallows, couldn't truly bring people back from the dead, only summon soul projections of the deceased.
These projections were more real than ghosts but more illusory than physical bodies, visible only to the holder, and they disliked being summoned back from the world after death, only bringing pain to the holder.
There were three Deathly Hallows total: the Elder Wand, Resurrection Stone, and Invisibility Cloak. Though legend said these Hallows were gifts from Death, they were actually invented by the Peverell brothers.
Among them, the Resurrection Stone was invented by the second of the three Peverell brothers to resurrect his beloved.
But bringing back the dead was forbidden magic that was fundamentally impossible to achieve, so ultimately the Peverell who invented the Resurrection Stone could only choose to end his own life in pain, thus meeting his lover in the world after death.
At first glance, this Deathly Hallow appeared rather limited, seemingly useful only for conjuring ghostly echoes of the dead.
Yet Kael soon realized its greatest potential. The ability to commune with those who had passed opened doorways to invaluable information: ancient secrets, forgotten lore, and knowledge that had died with its keepers.
Kael looked at the Ring of Power hanging on a chain around his chest. Though this ring forged by Saruman could amplify the wearer's abilities, compared to the Three Elven Rings, it still wasn't perfect.
So if he had the Resurrection Stone, he could summon Celebrimbor who had made the Three Elven Rings, reforge it, and might well be able to craft a ring rivaling the Elven Rings.
He could even summon Fëanor, who made the Silmarils, learning craftsmanship from this genius elven smith.
And many other dead who had long gone to the Halls of Mandos.
Of course, doing so might attract attention from the keeper of the dead, Mandos himself.
After all, this behavior of summoning spirits from the Halls of Mandos back to the world of the living might be seen by Mandos as challenging his authority, which would be counterproductive.
But regardless, this Resurrection Stone had to be attempted.
However, looking at the conditions for making the Resurrection Stone, he couldn't help frowning.
The Resurrection Stone required a rare magical substance that could connect the boundary between life and death. Peverell had accidentally discovered the Veil of Death, the stone archway in the Death Chamber of the Department of Mysteries, and then captured death's essence from the Veil of Death to create the Resurrection Stone.
In the British Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries Death Chamber, there was a tall stone archway called the Veil of Death.
The stone archway hung a tattered black curtain called the Veil of Death. Only those who had witnessed death could hear voices of the deceased behind the veil.
The stone archway was considered a gateway to the world of the dead. Entering this door meant no return, complete death.
It was said the Ministry of Magic chose to build there because they discovered this stone archway, thus establishing the Ministry around it and founding the Department of Mysteries to study mysterious unsolved things like the Veil of Death.
But the only problem was that Middle-earth had no Veil of Death. How could he capture death's essence?
Kael thought rapidly with the Crown of Wisdom and suddenly had inspiration.
This world had no stone archway leading to the world of the dead. Elves, humans, and dwarves went to Mandos' halls after death. There was no so-called underworld.
But this world had something similar to an underworld, the Unseen Realm, a mysterious domain that coexisted with the real world, belonging to the category of invisible things.
When Bilbo wore the One Ring, he would enter the Unseen Realm, becoming invisible in the real world.
When Frodo was wounded by a Nazgûl's Morgul blade, it would also cause him to gradually enter the Unseen Realm.
If he wanted to capture death's essence, perhaps he could try from the Unseen Realm.
But this created another problem:
How should he enter the Unseen Realm?