The following day, it's raining. Pheonix's soaked to the skin, but she cares naught for it.

She has felt worse. But the Dwarves, on the other hand, hate the weather—one even complained to Gandalf about it. "Here, Mr. Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" but being as witty as Gandalf is, the wizard answers snarkily, "It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. So if you wish to change the world's weather, you should find another wizard."

This makes the shapeshifter's ears perk up.

She has known about a few other wizards than her old friend. Radagast for the distance. He is a kind wizard and is fond of her. When she was injured the last time she ventured this near the Mountian, he cared for her and healed her until she was strong enough to run with her pack again.

She has never got to pay him back, but now that she might meet him since he resides in his forest, their debt might be paid.

She continues to listen as Gandalf explains the orders of Wizards in Middle Earth. "There are five of us. The greatest of our orders is Saruman, the White. Then there are the two Blue Wizards; I've quite forgotten their names."

"And who is the fifth?" bilbo asks curiously from his spot in front of Pheonix on her white mare. "Well, that would be Radagast, the Brown." says the grey wizard. Pheonix's horse neighs in answer to that name. Pheonix smiles and pats her neck.

Bilbo stared a little at the sound of the cameras in this silent forest but soon regained his footing and continued to talk to Gandalf, with Pheonix listening intently. "Is he a great Wizard, or is he...more like you?" the comment makes both horse and rider snort, but they keep silent as Gandalf defends himself.

"I think he's a great wizard, in his way. He's a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals to others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forest lands to the East, and a good thing too, for always Evil will look to find a foothold in this world."

True and all, Pheonix thinks, shuddering at the strange feeling she has been feeling lately. Something is happening in Mirkwood. Something that can't be good.

◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥

Radagast runs through a forest. He examines a dying plant.

"Not good; not good at all," he mumbles before securing off. He does many dead animals lying around. Radagast plucks a mushroom and puts it in his bag. He feels and tastes the sap of an infected tree; he grows increasingly worried. Finally, he whistles and his bird appears. Radagast lifts his hat, and the bird and its mate land in their nest on Radagast's head. Radagast gasps and runs over to a hedgehog lying on the floor; it appears to be dying. He cradles it.

"Oh no! Sebastian! Good gracious." he whimper and runs home. There, he attempts to cure the hedgehog using various medicinal and magical techniques, to no avail. Finally, the hedgehog's family surrounds it, and Radagast tells them to move.

"Move back! Give him some air, for goodness sake!" Radagast continues his treatments, but they don't work. The hedgehog writhes in pain. "I don't understand why it's not working; it's not as if it's witchcraft..." he mumbles, but then a strange look comes over his face, and he speaks in a different, deeper voice than before.

"Witchcraft. But it is. Dark and powerful magic." Hearing a noise, Radagast looks up and sees several giant spiders crawling up the side of his house. Radagast hurriedly braces his door shut with a bench. The hedgehog suddenly croaks, gasping for air, then seemingly expires. Radagast seems to be about to cry; however, the house starts creaking with the sound of the spiders crawling over the roof. Radagast runs over to his staff and pulls out the blue stone embedded at the top. As all the small rodents and other animals in his house flee, Radagast cradles Sebastian and whispers a spell while holding the blue stone to the hedgehog's muzzle.

"Free the animal from the curse.  Now hear words of my voice. Be its life renewed"

The spiders begin to break through the thatched roof. Radagast goes into a trance-like state, and his spell grows more and more potent as darkness falls over the house. A black, inky shadow is slowly extracted from the hedgehog and into the stone. Suddenly, the hedgehog gasps for air and wakes up, and light returns to the area; the spiders crawl off the house. Running outside, Radagast sees spider webs all around his house, and he sees the giant spiders crawling off into the forest.

"Where on this good earth did those foul creatures come from?" he mutters, and suddenly his bird flies to him, and he converses with it. "The old fortress? Show me."

...

Radagast rides through the forest on a sleigh pulled by several large rabbits. As he proceeds, the woods become dark and gloomy, covered in cobwebs. An old, ruined fortress is seen in the distance.

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Cliff hanger

- Hyunjun