Raze's consciousness returned to his physical body with jarring suddenness, awareness snapping back into flesh and bone that had been frozen during his time in the mind space. The valley remained suspended in perfect stillness around him, Shade's daggers hovering inches from where they would have pierced his vital organs, birds motionless in the sky, even the wind arrested mid gust.
But something was fundamentally different now. His perception had expanded dramatically, awareness extending beyond normal sensory limitations to encompass aspects of reality he'd never consciously registered before. He could feel the temporal stasis holding everything frozen, sense the manipulation of time as tangible force rather than abstract concept.
