Pain was all he felt searing along his bones. Every joint in his wings felt like they were on fire even immersed in such icy water. If he'd had room to scream, he would have. If he'd had air to even force out of his lungs, he would have done something, anything, but the impact had knocked the breath out of him. Slowly, he paddled up toward the surface before carefully navigating over to where he could see Gaelin up on the shore already. When did I let go? I hope he isn't hurt...
Finally setting hands to solid ground to pull himself up, though, he felt his wings drooping in an odd way as they lifted from the weightlessness of water. Grimacing, he crawled up and then flopped down on his stomach as he fought back a groan, the inky black wings plastered to his back and arms as they remained fully outstretched. "Are you okay?" he croaked, coughing to free some water from his throat still, though he did not dare try to move more than to speak for fear of the pain he knew was there flaring up again.
