[Bonus thanks to BobTheEngineer <3]
Sylas awoke with a wheeze, endless pain ripping through him. He had never experienced a headache this severe. Saying it felt like hammers were continuously slamming against his skull didn't quite do it justice.
It wasn't just that there were hammers, but the pain flared like sirens through his neurons, each one firing faster and faster the more awake he became.
And it moved. Sometimes it would branch, becoming countless flares of pain, and then they would converge, fusing into one and forming a single thrumming, mad push that made him feel like an axe was splitting his head in two.
"Ah, you're finally awake. Not bad, not bad."
This time, the echo didn't shatter Sylas' brain like it had before. But he could feel it very clearly in his skull.
He didn't understand why a voice was coming from there. But he understood even less how exactly he was safe right now.
