Aurelius faced everyone's wide-eyed stares.
Pain flared in his back. The silver wound was irritating him, a constant throb that reminded him he should be resting instead of standing here. Silver took time to heal, maybe two days for a normal cut, but he was prolonging it by being here and quite honestly he did not care. They needed to know what they were facing. Needed to understand what was at stake.
Even the books he had read while researching dreamwalkers after Thalia first suggested it had not mentioned this excruciating pain. The texts talked about dream manipulation and control, but nothing prepared him for what it felt like to have someone drive spikes through your skull from the inside.
He stood up straight, ignoring the throb in his back as his hand went unconsciously to the sw
