For the first 10 seconds I feel nothing, paralyzed, unable to breathe. Seth, intuiting that I am beyond the point of making sound, removes his hand from my mouth. I draw in a sharp intake of air, convulsing all over, eyes rolling into the back of my head. Then the crippling pain begins setting in and black dots spot my vision, then white spots, then spots of all shapes and colors. It is almost beautiful if they weren't visual hallucinations from pain, disappointment, and total mental disintegration. I can feel myself changing, molting, metamorphosizing. I shed the final layers of who I was before.
Croaking, head thrown back, I hang tenuously on the line between life and death. It hurts all over. I am in agony. Please, goddess, make it stop, make it stop. I can't take it. I am not strong.
