The pain was the first thing Noah registered as his eyes fluttered open.
It came from everywhere at once, with no single source distinguishable from the rest. All he could feel was just a uniform pressure that covered him from the back of his skull to the soles of his feet.
He lay there on the ground for a moment, breathing through it, waiting for his body to finish reminding him of everything it had been through.
Then he sat up.
His vision came in pieces. Blurred edges first, then shapes, then detail, the world assembling itself slowly around him like something being built in real time.
He pressed one hand against the ground to steady himself and felt broken stone beneath his palm.
He took stock.
