"This is going to be painful," Vlad thought grimly, as darkness surged from the Eclipseborn's ruined eye and rushed at him, clinging to him like a parasite, seeping into his flesh.
The Eclipseborn was dead, but the spirit that had possessed the bear remained, and if it could take over a beast, it could certainly try to claim him.
So while the battle was over, its struggle was not.
Vlad immediately ceased the spirit convergence. In his current state, any pain he felt was shared with Vel, and though their union granted him greater mind resistance, still, there was no reason for her to endure unnecessary agony when he could easily handle it.
As the maddened spirit rampaged within him, the boons granted by their brief union flickered out and vanished. The strength, the changes, the clarity, they left him in an instant.
Pain followed like a tidal wave. It engulfed his mind, raw and blinding, but Vlad had braced for this, at least as much as he could.
