After Isengard was fully restored, everyone gazed at the seemingly undamaged environment as if caught in a waking dream.
If not for the numerous sub-dragon corpses still littering the grounds, all would have thought they had merely endured a terrible nightmare.
Kael raised his wand once more. With sweeping gestures, broken wood and shattered stones transformed into sturdy wooden tables and elevated stone platforms.
Within minutes, across Isengard's broad, flat grassland appeared seating arrangements sufficient to accommodate ten thousand diners in comfort.
Kael then produced the golden cup, summoning and conjuring countless fine wines and exquisite delicacies that materialized to fill every table until they groaned under the weight.
Everyone exclaimed in genuine wonder, eyes widening at the impossible feast manifesting before them.
Kael then retrieved several of Saruman's bred evil dragons from storage to host all the assembled warriors properly.
These evil dragons, each measuring dozens of meters in length, possessed massive bodies more than sufficient to feed the entire gathered army.
"Evil dragons" was merely Kael's distinguishing term for Saruman's particular breed of sub-dragons. Except for the dragon-fell beast hybrids whose poisonous flesh rendered them inedible, the other evil dragons were perfectly safe to consume.
So after Kael announced that everyone could eat freely—consuming as much dragon meat as they desired—all the warriors erupted in cheers and gathered eagerly around the dragon corpses, working together to carve the precious meat.
After all, this was genuine dragon flesh! Everyone buzzed with excitement, already imagining how they would boast to friends and future generations about the day they feasted on dragon!
While generously hosting the warriors, Kael did not forget his loyal animal companions.
Smaug felt no kinship whatsoever with these lesser sub-dragons, happily claiming an entire evil dragon for himself alone.
Thorondor, Aslan, and Cerberus all received generous portions. Cerberus, whose stomach proved immune to the toxic dragon-fell beast hybrid flesh, was assigned all the poisonous evil dragons—receiving more dragon meat than any other pet, even surpassing Smaug's massive share.
This distribution delighted Cerberus immensely. He stood proudly atop the largest dragon corpse, three tails wagging simultaneously with pure joy.
As for Herpo, the great serpent remained in deep hibernation and regrettably missed this unprecedented dragon meat distribution entirely.
However, Herpo preferred giant spiders as prey anyway, and the Chamber of Secrets still stored large quantities of uneaten spider corpses preserved in stasis—Herpo would likely feel no regret upon waking.
At the grand banquet's center, Kael sat in the position of honor with Dunlending Chief Brog on his right and King Théngel on his left.
They enjoyed various magical delicacies while eagerly tasting the roasted dragon meat that had been carefully prepared.
This marked Kael's first experience eating dragon meat. The flesh proved remarkably fire-resistant, requiring considerable time and intense heat to roast thoroughly.
Fortunately, these were cold drakes crossbred from frost dragon lineage. If they had been fire dragon meat instead, with even stronger inherent fire resistance, ordinary flames could barely cook it at all.
Kael placed a skewer of perfectly roasted dragon meat in his mouth to taste it properly.
The texture was exceptionally chewy with surprisingly decent flavor—somewhat similar to premium beef, though with a richer, almost metallic undertone.
After swallowing, Kael gradually felt his blood surging powerfully, as if he had consumed extraordinarily nutritious food. His entire body felt energized and vital. The combat fatigue that had weighed on him rapidly dissipated like morning mist.
Kael's eyes brightened with realization—this was truly worthy of dragons, whose entire bodies were legendary treasures.
Beside him, Brog and King Théngel experienced even more dramatic effects. Their faces flushed deep red. Blood surged visibly beneath their skin. Their bodies perspired heavily while being continuously nourished and strengthened by the dragon's essence.
Discovering these remarkable properties, both men showed expressions of pure delight. They abandoned all pretense of table etiquette and other delicacies to devote themselves entirely to consuming dragon meat with single-minded determination.
Similarly, all the assembled warriors discovered the dragon meat's incredible nourishing properties. They scrambled eagerly for portions, each man fearing he would eat too slowly and miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Facing this ravenous enthusiasm, Kael remained completely unconcerned that the warriors would exhaust all available dragon meat.
After all, Mordor's evil dragons alone numbered dozens, each measuring dozens of meters long and weighing dozens of tons when alive.
The combined force of Dunlending warriors and Rohirrim cavalry totaled nearly ten thousand hungry men.
Mathematically, two or three evil dragons would more than suffice to satisfy everyone present to bursting.
Let alone the numerous additional sub-dragon corpses available.
However, facing so many massive sub-dragon bodies requiring processing, Kael felt somewhat troubled by the logistics.
Even boxes magically expanded with Extension Charms would require over a dozen containers, plus significant preservation concerns to prevent spoilage.
Feeling pragmatic rather than wasteful, he simply borrowed the labor of nearly ten thousand warriors present to help systematically process these valuable sub-dragon corpses.
Dragon hearts, livers, blood, brains, and other precious potion ingredients were carefully sorted into reinforced barrels, which soon piled up like small mountains across the grounds.
As fair compensation for their considerable labor, Kael gave each participating warrior a dragon scale as a permanent memento of this historic day.
Dragon scales were extraordinarily hard—ordinary swords and common weapons could not penetrate them regardless of force applied. Each massive scale could potentially be crafted into a formidable shield.
Many warriors treasured this gift deeply, recognizing its extraordinary value, both practical and symbolic.
Many brought them home as cherished family heirlooms to be passed reverently through generations as proof of their participation in this legendary battle.
At Isengard's sprawling outdoor banquet, even when everyone was thoroughly stuffed and could not physically consume another piece of dragon meat, they had ultimately consumed only two complete sub-dragons.
Everyone's bellies bulged uncomfortably tight. They burped continuously while faces remained flushed bright red. Bodies steamed with excess heat—appearing dramatically overnourished from the rich fare.
But despite the discomfort, everyone felt immensely satisfied and genuinely delighted by the experience.
As professional warriors, their bodies inevitably bore various chronic ailments accumulated through years of hard campaigning.
But now these persistent bodily problems were gradually being eliminated by the dragon meat's concentrated vital energy, actively restoring optimal health.
Moreover, their blood became exceptionally enriched and powerful. Everyone present felt individually strong enough to kill an ox bare-handed.
One could say accurately that from consuming dragon meat, every person present gained tremendous permanent benefits to their constitution.
King Théngel's weathered face flushed bright red as if he had just emerged from a steam bath. His body radiated excess heat and perspiration. He spoke gratefully to Kael with genuine emotion, "Thank you deeply, Wizard Kael, for your extraordinarily generous gift! My knee joints have troubled me for years with persistent pain, but now they feel remarkably better!"
Kael graciously accepted his heartfelt thanks and additionally gifted King Théngel a complete dragon skeleton from one of the two consumed evil dragons as a magnificent memento.
He did not forget Dunlending Chief Brog either, bestowing upon him another complete dragon skeleton of equal quality.
Both leaders were absolutely delighted by Kael's thoughtful dragon skeleton gifts, recognizing their immense symbolic and practical value.
After returning triumphantly to Rohan's capital city, King Théngel specially commissioned master craftsmen to meticulously reassemble the dragon bones into an impressive three-dimensional skeleton specimen. This was placed prominently in the central palace hall for subjects and foreign guests to admire with appropriate awe.
Dunlending Chief Brog employed a more practical approach, using the dragon skeleton as the structural framework to construct a magnificent ceremonial tent. The imposing dragon skull overlooked proceedings from the tent's peak with a powerful presence.
This golden tent, which came to be called "Dragon Court," became the sacred place where successive Dunlending chiefs deliberated important tribal matters, holding revered status for generations.
After everyone had eaten and drunk their absolute fill, King Théngel formally bid farewell to Kael, preparing to lead his Rohirrim cavalry back toward their homeland.
This departure was motivated partly by genuine concern about Mordor's routed forces potentially regrouping to counterattack while Rohan's defenses remained depleted.
Additionally, King Théngel kept glancing southward with visible worry etched across his features.
"I wonder how Gondor fares at this moment? Our ancestors received Gondor's grace in ancient times and swore eternal fealty to them, but this time because Rohan also suffered direct invasion, we could not provide timely support. I only pray that Gondor can hold on against this onslaught."
Kael looked at King Théngel with understanding sympathy, asking directly, "You plan to march south to support Gondor personally?"
King Théngel nodded with firm resolve, "Previously, suffering Mordor's invasion ourselves, we could not timely support our ancient allies in Gondor as honor demanded. But now Rohan's immediate crisis has been resolved through your aid—we absolutely must honor our ancestors' sacred oaths by providing military assistance."
"I only hope desperately that we will not arrive too late to matter!"
Kael felt considerably less worried about Gondor's fate, offering consolation, "Mordor attacked on four separate fronts simultaneously during this campaign, with Isengard clearly designated as their primary target. Now that they have failed here catastrophically, their forces at other locations should successively retreat to avoid being destroyed piecemeal."
"Moreover, Gandalf already departed to support Gondor directly. With his considerable magical abilities and natural leadership, he will surely organize the Gondorians to mount effective resistance against Mordor's invading army."
Gandalf possessed the enchanted Portkey that Kael had personally given him. If Gondor's capital Minas Tirith actually fell to enemy forces, Gandalf would certainly return immediately via Portkey to report the disaster.
The absence of any such news meant Gondor's overall situation had not yet reached truly desperate straits requiring evacuation.
Therefore, Kael remained considerably less worried than King Théngel about immediate catastrophe.
Hearing this logical reasoning, King Théngel's deeply worried heart eased slightly, though he sighed heavily, "I sincerely hope you are correct in this assessment!"
Nevertheless, King Théngel remained determined to lead his cavalry at maximum speed southward to support Gondor against the darkness.
Rohan and Gondor shared a border along the White Mountains—if Gondor suffered conquest and occupation, it would inevitably bring devastating harm to Rohan's security.
Seeing King Théngel's absolute resolve on this matter, Kael did not insist he remain at Isengard any longer.
However, the distance from Isengard to Rohan's capital city of Edoras was considerable—even riding the finest horses would require at least three full days of hard travel.
Let alone reaching far more distant Gondor to provide meaningful military support there.
So Kael generously gifted King Théngel an enchanted box magically capable of containing all his Rohirrim cavalry in comfort.
All the Rohirrim warriors entered the expanded box in orderly fashion. Then a skilled Dunlending warrior rode a powerful hippogriff carrying both King Théngel and the precious box, flying eastward at top speed toward distant Rohan.
After King Théngel and his Rohirrim cavalry departed for their homeland, Kael did not remain idle.
Besides carefully driving the surviving sub-dragons back to the breeding grounds for recovery, he faced the considerable task of processing dozens of massive sub-dragon corpses.
This involved not only meticulously sorting and storing precious materials like dragon hearts, brains, and livers in preservation but also systematically processing dragon hides, scales, and teeth one by one for various uses.
Dragon hide proved remarkably tough with inherent strong magic resistance, making it an ideal material for crafting dragon hide coats, gloves, boots, and other protective garments.
Dragon scales could be fashioned into formidable shields, inscribed with powerful runes, or expertly crafted into various magical items of considerable power.
Dragon teeth could be carefully ground into fine powder for use in advanced potions, or alternatively crafted into effective weapons and tools.
Kael absolutely could not manage this enormous workload alone, so he gratefully employed the Dunlending warriors' continued assistance with fair compensation.
While Kael remained busy with these important tasks at Isengard, far to the south within Gondor's embattled borders, Gandalf's situation had grown increasingly precarious.
Gandalf possessed not only powerful natural leadership abilities but also wore the Ring of Fire Narya, which could actively inspire courage and rekindle hope in despairing hearts.
He naturally drew people to follow him, infecting them positively with his indomitable will and powerful emotions, making them eagerly heed his wise counsel.
So upon arriving in war-torn Gondor, Gandalf successfully re-inspired the fleeing, terror-stricken Gondorian soldiers. He reorganized them into effective fighting formations to mount proper resistance against Mordor's continuing invasion.
But entirely unexpectedly for Gandalf's strategic planning, Mordor's invading army included not only conventional orc forces but also over a dozen massive flightless cold drakes serving as living siege weapons.
These wingless cold drakes, though individually weaker than truly winged dragons, possessed enormous size and devastating physical power—making them essentially impossible for ordinary soldiers to oppose effectively through conventional means.
Some cold drakes resembled monstrous giant crocodiles, others appeared like colossal lizards, while still others resembled enormous pythons entirely without limbs, instead crawling and slithering with horrifying speed.
The cold drakes ruthlessly leveraged their massive bodies and incredibly hard scaly skin to break through fortified gates and defensive walls, crushing many brave Gondorian soldiers beneath their bulk like insignificant ants.
The cold drakes' terrifying appearance on the battlefield utterly destroyed whatever remained of the Gondorian soldiers' courage to resist, causing widespread panic and chaotic rout.
Under the cold drakes serving as devastating living weapons of mass destruction, Mordor's orc army pressed forward rapidly toward Gondor's proud capital city of Minas Tirith.
Steward Ecthelion stood solemnly before the withered White Tree in the Court of the Fountain, gazing eastward at the distant approaching Mordor forces with growing darkness on the horizon. His weathered face showed undisguised despair at what approached.