Total Control

The god of the forest reached the ground, a sharp pain in his chest. He could feel his mortal heart, tense and dying. Each new beat was weaker than the last. 

The forest cried out in agony around him. 

Trees groaned as their roots withered. Leaves curled and blackened as waves of unnatural power pulsed through the air. The whispers of the wind, once gentle, now shrieked in terror. 

The balance of life, the very essence of his existence, was unraveling before him.

He clenched his fingers into the dirt, but even the earth beneath him felt sickly, as if it no longer recognized him. 

This was not just an attack on the forest. It was an attack on him. On the ancient, sacred bond that tied his soul to this land.

His breath shuddered. He was dying.

The realization sent a deep, unfamiliar fear through him. 

He had never feared death before, he had been beyond it. Eternal. The guardian of this land for as long as it had existed.