The blow felt like a normal punch. That is if a normal punch injected searing acid into your skull. While the effect was breaking out immediately Oz knew that in seconds everything would be even worse.

	Screaming was all he wanted to do right now but he was taking this snake to the floor first. A burst of force and accelerated gravity propelled them downward and Oz held the Order member with frenzied strength until they slammed hard into the ground, Zelrianne first. Oz squirmed to the side, rolling end over end in some vain attempt to soothe the pain. He couldn't calm himself enough to vent ki and clear his system. Barely able to control himself he started with a groan that grew into a scream. It didn't take long for his voice to turn hoarse. Today pain had a color and it was green.

	Rest was impossible but he did finally settle on his knees, leaning forward on his elbow and staring at the ground. His body was sweating profusely as it tried to find a natural answer to an unnatural amount of suffering. The ability to see was also off. Colors were mixed and everything blurred into a mess. He was completely vulnerable and there was nothing he could do but wait for Zelriane to recover and finish it.

	Vision was finally blacking out. He thought it was unconsciousness but he still felt pain even if it was being numbed by something. He saw a familiar place, one he usually made himself through meditations. It was like being underwater, sand below, pillars of bright light shining from the surface above, floating free without any need for oxygen. The only troubling thing is that Oz didn't conjure this image. Someone else did.

_______________________________________________________

	Oz drifted to a small cave that stood below. The pains of the fight and agoniki still ebbed and pushed at his awareness but something else was drawing him here than his own focus. The entrance was barred and locked by a substance deeper than shadow that felt like it would be colder than the void of space. A figure clinked in the background of the cave before approaching the entrance and bringing light to himself. He was lanky, regal and always certain of himself. He'd been uncharacteristically quiet of late.

	[color=violet]"Did you ring to keep me from killing myself and by extension you?"[/color] Oz asked the apparition. [color=violet]"How kind of you, Geode."[/color]