"Dominic? Dominic!"
A voice called from nearby, sounding so urgent that Dominic felt he'd get slapped if he didn't respond soon.
Double images flickered before his eyes, like dark paint poured down a drain and pulled into curved lines by the flowing water, circling with the Vortex before being sucked into its pitch-black core.
The voice slowed and stretched, becoming distorted. His own chapped lips parted slightly, but he couldn't make out what he was saying. He couldn't even tell if he was making a sound.
Then came the pain. His skull seemed as vast as a prayer hall, so that even the most intense physical sensations took a while to travel from the back of his head to his forehead, echoing through his empty consciousness.
Something cool touched the side of his neck. Fortunately, his companion's first instinct was to check his pulse rather than try to wake him by force. That first-aid course hadn't gone to waste.
Luckily, his artery was pulsing quite strongly. Even though Feld's hurried fingers were nowhere near the right spot, he still felt the powerful, terrified rush of blood from his heart, each beat like a final struggle before falling into an abyss.
That wasn't kind to his blood vessels, but it was good for his rib cage. He'd avoided having a few ribs crushed against the uneven ground.
Dominic could feel hurried footsteps around him. They lifted him and carried him into the bright outdoors, away from the dim, spinning confines of the room.
His heart still pounded against his eardrums. His vision settled first, followed by his hearing and then his sense of place.
Feld held up three fingers in front of him. Dominic gave a random answer until the other man grew worried, then corrected himself.
The homeowner was even