Xepherial's world ended. It simply went black, and he was gone, not even conscious enough to realize he was dead. At least, he would have thought he was dead, had he thought at all. The pain was ever present through all the timeless darkness, and it was the first thing he became aware of long before he could register it for what it was. For now, it was a dull stabbing ache that colored everything else, blurring his perceptions. A light turned on in the room around him, sending a red glow across his closed eyelids. That wouldn't register yet, but voices began to breach the void that surrounded him.
"...da empoor."
Xepherial cogitated a word. His attention focused on it like a servitor forced to follow a predetermined protocol regardless of whatever damage it had received. He'd recognize that word, that name, no matter how badly spoken, no matter the tongue, and no matter whether he was live or dead upon hearing it. It stirred him.
The soft hiss of a strained breath left his lips, making just enough sound to draw attention to his existence on the floor once again. He was alive, still, although his consciousness was on the fritz. Dreams interceded into his flickering grasp on reality. He tried to hold onto them, to stay asleep and ignore the constant hum of agony in the background of his mind. If he could just sleep... he could sleep passed his hearts finally stopping and perhaps be at peace, free of the confines of the biological corpus, at last able to become one with... Perhaps...
But as before, such sleep eluded him, mocking him with jabs of pain to match every heartbeat. Xepherial reached for his head with a groan. His eyes opened for the first time and the image he beheld was of the same adversary they had last closed upon. Getting hit in the head had clearly impaired him, as it took a moment to register what he was seeing. "Dark apothecary." He spoke the first description that came to his mind, naming Azazel with it. Thorn, Vedius, the ork... none of anyone close to him seemed to be noticed as Xepherial suddenly realized his vulnerability. His bolter had been removed from reach, and he had completely failed to die, leaving him here, in the open palms of his worst nightmare.
