God of Discovery [high fantasy, slow build, mlm]

Thar's return

Although Thar had been back in Evadia a little over a year ago, it was not like now. Last time, Lemisyre met him far outside the city in the open fields near one of the watch towers. She led him to the warehouse district and through one of the underground tunnels that led to the castle. It felt like sneaking in. If it were not for the letter she carried with her, sealed with Zetha's ring and written in his penmanship, he would not have agreed.

Zetha, King of Evadia, was also known as the scales of justice between the Never Born. He never took sides and always weighed all options equally. He was the reason why Thar's sentence was a thousand years. He was also the one that enforced it.

Last time, Lemysire had snuck him into the castle and right to her work chambers. She outfitted him with new robes in a style he was used to but with enough modifications to match the latest trends. She also used him as a test subject for a new type of material and magic for the clothes, something that would repel all dirt.

Although the excuse seemed flimsy, it was when Nocipel met him in Lemysire's work chambers that he understood the real reason he was asked to return. Nocipel wanted him to join her on an adventure north. Clearly, she had received permission from not only the king but also the queen herself.

Thar watched as everyone left him standing at the door of the private library. A quick glance around the main library revealed one Never Born working there, ignoring him, and three mortals. He turned back into the room behind him.

The books he was browsing earlier while D'Argen told his story were back in their places. But he had found the one he was looking for. He pulled it out of its shelf again and flipped through to look at the page he found earlier.

Barely a thousand years after their fall to the mortal realm, people from one of the further lands decided to settle near where Evadia now stood. It took a few hundred years before they established themselves into an empire and built their capital city atop a hill. A mortal king decided that this new empire was too presumptuous and attacked. The newly formed empire asked Evadia for help.

In the book he was holding, Thar read about a small unit during the war, cut off from the rest of the army, barely fifty mortals led by one Never Born. They were lost and the rest of the army declared them forgotten. Until, at a critical moment, the unit returned and won a major battle to help the empire.

Not one of the mortals under Thar's command had died.

That was the first time the mortals prayed to him.

Shortly after that, a new name spread out among the mortals. Thar was named the God of War. He was given a higher rank and title but kept his small unit until they no longer wished to fight. Only three of the mortals under his command died in battle.

That was also when Thar understood what that itch in his veins was. It was the first step of many that led to where he was now – banished and atoning for his sins, sins that were asked of him by mortals and Never Born alike. It was then that Thar spilled his own blood for the first time, the mahee inside him allowing him to harm himself because he was doing it for his protection. When his blood spilled out, it froze over and reforged in copper and ice to become a sword so sharp that it could cut down an old tree with barely a swing.

A sword he had not been able to draw from his veins in almost a thousand years.

He slammed the book shut and put it away. At least his name was still in it.

Just as he left the private library, his mahee tingled inside him like snowflakes melting on a hot surface. There was a sizzle and it only got stronger as he walked. He stopped and turned around. The snowflakes started piling up when he stopped at a specific shelf. When he scanned the bound volumes on it, he found a familiar one. The years and names were the same as the book he just put away. When he flipped to the same page as before, he got lost. There were entire paragraphs and pages that were not copied over from the original.