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.
