Lucian eyelids fluttered open, but the world around him remained a cloud spinning in a haze. Dim light coming in through the room pierced his eyes like shards of glass, waves of discomfort radiating through his skull. For a few drawn-out moments, he could focus only on a little—his head was heavy. A throb of pressure behind his eyes reminded him that he was far from well. His limbs went leaden, too heavy to move, too stiff to heed.
Gradually, as the fog of unconsciousness began to part, the world around him moved into sharper focus. And then suddenly his senses slowly came alive again, but even as they did so there was a strange and unsettling feeling, something more than his.
