I regain consciousness, but it's not a pleasant waking up. My head is still hurting badly and everything is spinning. It seems that monstrous conscience from another dimension managed to hurt my very brain. Even connecting to the minds of my beloved is torturous.
Erik is holding me, trying to make me drink, but I spit everything out. I scream in pain because Noage is attached to my arm with his rooty tentacles and his presence in my mind feels like thousands of needles.
"Viceroy, we have to limit the number of people that can approach him," I hear Gotrid saying. "His Majesty needs as little telepathic stimuli as possible."
"We can't risk reducing the guards," Liana opposes.
"Then position them further away, make sure that the barrier stays impenetrable," Gotrid suggests. "And talk to the residents not to occupy the garden in front of the Royal suite. I know that everyone is worried-sick, but their mere presence is hurting him."
"Okay, let's try that," Liana agrees in the end and runs off.
"Love, you will be okay," Erik kisses me on my forehead. "Noage says that you received a telepathic equivalent of a concussion, but you should recover."
It takes a lot of effort to decipher what they're saying, so I give up eventually. Even though every tiny telepathic wave is hurting me right now, I hug Erik and fall asleep.
*****
I'm standing on an ancient stone platform. The world isn't spinning anymore, but I feel my head hurting all the same. I'm sleeping, but it doesn't bring me the usual escape from pain, probably because my brain is too active. Lucid dreams evidently don't count. I collapse on the ground and curl into my wings.
"You met it," my father appears next to me.
"It?" I repeat weakly, hugging my feathers.
He materialises a cushion and sits down next to me. He sighs and tries to touch my wings. When he sees that I get goosebumps and twitch, he stops.
"To be honest, I had no idea you would try sending your mind to the Draconia dimension," he says worriedly. "If I did, I would warn you against it. You're far from being ready. How did you get to the rift so quickly anyway?"
"I felt it forming," I whisper and massage my temples, but as if that would do anything in a dream.
"You felt the rift before it tore the space apart?" he widens his eyes. "No Divementis has such acute senses."
"Do I have to remind you that I'm a Celestial as well?" I frown at him. Having a discussion takes a lot of effort, but the pain is somewhat more manageable here so I can speak.
"All Draconians can feel the rifts, but not even a Divementis can feel a rift that hasn't torn the space yet," he shakes his head, astonished.
"What was that thing?" I just need to know.
"That, my son, was the enemy," he explains with a sigh.
"The...?" I notice the solemnity in his voice.
"Yes, the one," he nods. "The reason why we came to the Earth in the first place. The reason why we lost our home. The reason why four sentient Draconian races disappeared. They didn't go extinct, they were annihilated."
I want to ask more questions, but the pain gradually becomes unbearable. My brain is supposed to be resting, not being lucid.
"That Earthborn healer is right," he peeks into my fresh memories because I can't muster any strength to oppose him. "It's a telepathic equivalent of a concussion. You need time to recover so I won't be visiting you for a few days until you do."
"Wait, I still have so many questions...!" I try to stop him, but his body is transparent already.
"There will be time for that. For now, focus on recovering," he insists. "You being able to feel forming rifts is potentially a huge game changer, I have to discuss it with my people. In the meanwhile, don't refuse treatment from that Earthborn doctor and let your Consorts comfort you. I know it's seemingly more painful to connect to them in your current state, but I promise it's going to speed up your recovery."
When he disappears, my mind gets cloudy and I fall into blissful sleep where there is no pain.