The sudden nothingness filled her with calm, deep enough she didn't wish to wake, but the chaos and pain slowly lessened and the storm began to crash back in. The rain battering the stone, the heavy, tired breathing of someone she knew but couldn't name, the familiar burning sensation of that same mixed soul, bright against the darkness. Valdis struggled against the sounds and feelings, trying to drag herself back into the darkness where safety lay. At least she no longer felt as if she were suffocating.

"It hurts," she breathed, realizing that her head pounded with the rain. Her skin felt wrong, the cave echoing everything, even her heartbeat. Or at least it felt like it. But the overwhelming emotions were gone, instead of screaming in her head, they were just voices, not as quiet as she wished, but quiet enough to find something near center. Valdis didn't open her eyes, not wanting the flashes of lightning to be any brighter.

"Where are we?" her voice hurt her ears, but it was a question she needed answered.