Mudminnow River i know i'm bad news, i saved it all for you

At some point during the fight with his father, Alarian himself had employed a similar tactic. He still remembered the sickening crunch-thud of skull against stone, the way his body had seized beneath him for a moment. At no point had the boy imagined he would be on the receiving end. He could almost picture himself as he descended towards the rock, in that fleeting moment before impact.

He did not lose consciousness immediately. A strangled sound ripped from his throat and died instantly as he began to gasp, eyes rolling back. Intense pain seared across his skull, followed by growing warmth through his fur. Dimly he became aware of noise; sputtering, half-shrieked word-fragments— from his own mouth, he realized. Runion pulled him down again, and he panicked.
N— no—
It was black.