CHAPTER 1168: SUFFERING GOD

Erend and Eccar stepped through the spiraling rift, and the air of the underground chamber swallowed them again.

Golden light from the cocoon washed across their faces as the portal snapped shut behind them.

Adrius, Aesa, and Lysander all jerked to their feet.

They had expected Erend and Eccar to return in hours or maybe longer. But barely five minutes had passed.

Adrius blinked rapidly. "You’re already back?"

Aesa’s eyes narrowed in disbelief. Lysander instinctively reached for his staff, not in hostility, but in sheer shock at what stood behind the two Dragonborn.

Thar’Zul-Vekar stepped forward from the dissipating shimmer of residual portal energy.

The ancient god’s body glowed softly in the dim chamber. Bark and moss woven into graceful, living armor. Vines wrapping their limbs like intricate patterns, bioluminescent sap pulsing beneath their skin like veins of light.

Their leafy hair shifted with every breath of air, rustling faintly as if an entire forest whispered through them.

Roots curled around their arms and ankles, blooming and retracting, creating an aura that felt both serene and overwhelmingly powerful.

Even in silence, they radiated divinity.

Aesa swallowed hard. "Erend... this person..."

Thar’Zul-Vekar offered the three of them a gentle smile and dipped their head politely. "Greetings."

The small bow only heightened the sense that this was no ordinary being.

Erend lifted a hand. "This is Thar’Zul-Vekar, an ancient Forest God who awakened some time ago during the incident in the Qomore Kingdom’s forest."

Lysander’s mouth opened slightly. This was that powerful presence he felt, a god. And now they were standing here. Real and breathing and... not hostile.

Erend continued, "There’s a long story behind it, and trust me, explaining it would take all day. Right now, what matters is that they’re here to help with this storm being."

Adrius exhaled slowly, forcing his questions back down his throat. His mind churned with disbelief, but he kept it steady.

"Right. Alright. If they can help, then... please," Adrius said.

He gestured toward the golden cocoon that pulsed faintly in the air, storm matter swirling like a caged tempest.

"Go ahead," he said. "Just be careful. The Magic are unstable."

Thar’Zul-Vekar stepped forward.

The chamber seemed to breathe differently around them. Roots in the stone of this underground chamber shifted slightly as if responding to their presence. Adrius and Lysander keep those surprised feelings to themselves. Aesa was not surprised at all,

They stopped just a few steps from the cocoon.

At the sight of the storm being suspended inside with his hair drifting like drowned strands and lightning flickering weakly under the bindings, Thar’Zul-Vekar’s expression tightened.

Sadness washed over their features like the mourning that they felt for centuries.

Then a sharper emotion of fury followed.

Their bioluminescent veins brightened, leaves rustling with a rising tremor. Small roots cracked through the stone floor beneath their feet, reacting to the god’s shifting rage.

"This..." Thar’Zul-Vekar whispered. Their voice trembled with a depth that made even the air shiver. "This is wrong."

A gentle but also powerful pulse rolled off them, and the dark cloud inside the cocoon hummed in response.

"That entity tears apart his essence forces him back into his vessels like this..." Their eyes narrowed, glowing with emerald fire. "Whoever did this has committed a despicable act. A cruelty that defies the balance of all realms."

Eccar stepped closer to Erend, lowering his voice. "I’ve never seen them like this since that time. Are they going to be hostile again?"

"I don’t think so," Erend said. Thar’Zul-Vekar’s sadness carried the weight of ancient kinship, and their anger radiated like a storm preparing to break.

The Forest God lifted a hand toward the cocoon, vines curling gently around their fingers as they leaned in closer.

"He still remembers his fragments of power and memories," they murmured. "Memories buried in pain turned into violent defense. This will not be easy."

They turned their gaze slightly, eyes shining. "But I will speak to him."

The chamber fell silent.

And the golden cocoon pulsed once as it answered the presence now standing before it.

Thar’Zul-Vekar placed their palm against the surface of the cocoon, and the golden shell rippled like liquid light beneath their touch.

The vines around their wrist tightened, sensing their intent, and thin strands of green luminescence stretched from their skin into the seal.

For a heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then the storm inside reacted.

The avatar’s body jerked violently, lightning flaring through the cocoon in sharp, desperate arcs.

The chamber shook.

Dust drifted down from the ceiling.

Adrius took a step back, instinctively raising his hand as if ready to reinforce the seal at any second.

Thar’Zul-Vekar didn’t move.

Their expression didn’t waver, even as the storm writhed like a wounded beast.

"Easy," the Forest God whispered. Their voice softened to a tone so gentle it barely reached the others. "You are not alone."

A thunderous pulse slammed outward, the cocoon trembling as if it would burst.

Lysander braced his staff.

"Should we—?" he started.

"No," Erend said firmly. "Let them try."

He didn’t sound entirely confident, but he didn’t step away either.

At last the violent shuddering slowed. The storm’s flailing weakened, the lightning dimming from frantic white into a deep, unstable blue.

The cocoon settled into a slow trembling pulse.

The figure inside drifted closer to the inner surface, as if drawn toward the god touching him.

A single eye suddenly opened. Those eyes were clouded, exhausted, and barely aware.

But it looked at Thar’Zul-Vekar as if recognizing them.

The Forest God breathed in sharply, their throat tightening.

"He hears me," they murmured. "Through the pain... he hears me."

A small fragment of calm flickered through the air.

But only for a moment.

Because the next instant, a jagged crack slashed across the cocoon.

"Master!" Lysander shouted.

"I see it!" Adrius flung his hands out, trying to reinforce the binding. The runes along the ground flared, but the crack spread faster.

Before he finished, the storm’s aura exploded outward from the cocoon in a burst of raw, chaotic Magic that nearly knocked all of them backward.

Thar’Zul-Vekar stepped closer instead.

They pressed both palms to the cocoon now, their vines digging into the cracks as if stitching them shut with sheer will. Roots burst from the floor, rising like pillars that wrapped around the storm mass to stabilize it.

"Do not force yourself to awaken," the Forest God whispered. Their voice vibrated, layered with ancient resonance. "You will break."

Another convulsion tore through the being.

Erend clenched his fists. "Damn it. It looks like he’s suffering."

"Dont worry. He is not trying to escape." Thar’Zul-Vekar said sharply.

The chamber dimmed. Even the golden light from the cocoon trembled as if shrinking from the truth forming in the god’s voice.

"He is calling for help."

The words froze everyone in place.

A low, rumbling growl formed behind the god’s voice. Their anger returned, deeper and colder.

"Someone is controlling him," Thar’Zul-Vekar said. "Someone is forcing the fragments of the Storm God to wake before they are ready."

Their hand pressed harder against the cocoon.

—