Bel gritted his teeth, eyes squeezed shut. His breath came in sharp, ragged gasps.
Everything hurt.
He opened his eyes slowly. His body was back to normal, scales and horns gone. But he wasn't celebrating. Not even close.
"Ugh..." he groaned, trying not to scream. "It hurts... it hurts... it hurts..."
Below him, sharp black spikes pierced through his body. One had pierced through his right leg, another tore open his left thigh.
"It hurts... it hurts... it hurts... it hurts..."
His left shoulder was split wide, blood dripping slowly down the jagged rock. And his left hand was skewered, pushing painfully to keep his torso suspended just above more deadly spikes.
"It hurts," he hissed again, shivering. "Too much... pain!"
He slowly glanced to the side. Beside him lay the lightning bird, dead and still. Its massive body was impaled on the same vicious spikes, blue abyssal flames gently eating away at its body.
