Vajra stumbled back to consciousness slowly, a baby making its first steps towards the light and the light hurt to look at. It was like he was opening his eyes for the first time or the worst hangover he’d ever had times a thousand. The light blazed and there was something heavy on him and what had happened to him. His mind was jumbled, like someone had taken salad forks to it or tossed it into a blender and hit the soup setting. He squinted into the light and tried to think about where he was an what had happened.
Nothing came until the weight on him shifted and made a small familiar sound. He turned his head, breathing through the spike of pain that hit him when he moved and looked down to see Ardala asleep slumped forward onto the bed where he was stretched out. She was horribly pale and thin, her cheeks hollow. She had his shawl thrown over her shoulders and she rubbed her face into the blanket that was lying over him.