No. [ Bariyan makes an attempt to yank himself back, but he's weak. Most of his strength is spent laughing. He breaks free of Koltira's grip and reaches up with both hands to claw at his own throat, staring blankly ahead at nothing. ] He was going to kill me. He was about to-- he-- see? [ He looks down as he tilts his head to the right, highlighting the shallow cut on his neck. ] I felt it. The blade was right there so, it must have happened already, he must have been quick about it I know he would be I must be dead--

[ But he doesn't feel dead. He can feel the wind. The chill in the air. The hard ground against his knees. The strange, cooling touch of the bandages around his arms. In short, he can feel entirely too much for a dead man.

Bariyan finally quiets down to stare at Koltira, wonderingly.

If this is an afterlife-- if it is one, he doesn't know whether he ought to be angry, disappointed, grieving, or what.

He settles for being completely and utterly confounded instead. ]