The difficulty to reach consciousness was not wasted.  It gave him more of a foothold for the long ride down.  Magic wasn’t something he’d ever been any good at, and this particular type seemed both alien and eerily familiar all at once.  There was certainly no fighting it as it invaded him down to his very core.<br/><br/>When he opened his eyes, he knew that they weren’t in the real world.  It wasn’t solid ground beneath his feet.  It was something more ephemeral, a place that existed and yet didn’t.  There was the smell of smoke, sharp and smothering, and that wasn’t real, either.  It was strange, but Riel could<i>feel</i>where he was.  The seeping blackness was in there with him, as was the presence he’d felt from the man in the pool.  The darker of the two seemed more important at the moment, so he didn’t really give his guest any attention in the beginning.<br/><br/>“This is the final battleground, hm?” he asked, and his soul spoke perfectly the language of their fathers.  There, he had been battered and bruised, the damage done showing itself.  Not all of it was the fault of the poisonous spell ravaging him, though… not directly.  But he was a warrior at heart, so he would fight on.  His wings spread and steadily losing feathers, he stared in the direction of the warm glow of massive embers and inky smoke.  His arm reached out to his side and a sword shot out through his palm.  This wasn’t the first time he’d needed to kick out an intruder.  He’d just taken other means of transportation to get so far in.<br/><br/>“It can get pretty tricky in here.  I hope you—”<br/><br/>Seriously?  Even with the stench of the scorched magic to mask it, blackberry hung in the air.  He tried to not make a face.  It would’ve been rude.<br/><br/>“Well, never mind.  I’m sure you know what you’re doing, since you were the one to bring us here.”