Uh... Ow?

She'd gotten her voice back! Crux practically beamed at her for a moment. Back was proportional but even hoarse whispers was better than nothing at all. But of course the smile couldn't stay long and as the elation faded grimaces and winces replaced it. He tried to focus on his breathing, just keep himself grounded. Sounded like she'd found his stuff... His stuff! He'd forgotten he'd even had it, he'd gone into that hell with nothing on him he now realized and Crux mentally felt for the items he wore at all times:

Feather pendant: check
The leather cuffs: check.

Crux breathed a sigh of relief. Normally he'd have noticed right away if they were taken from him, he felt uncomfortable without them but then nothing had been normal had it? The relief the honey brought was almost enough to knock him out again. He gently accepted the offering and considered how he'd answer the question. "I'm not entirely sure "  Crux started uncertainty plain. "I was out getting what few supplies I could find. Luckily honey was one."  He gave a weak smile but it fell as his mind began piecing his memories back together. "Then out of nowhere three figures were just there. Didn't see, hear or smell them at all. They were waiting..."  Crux frowned, he'd felt like he'd had to go with one of them. His next words are spoken with a distance, like he is reliving the moment. "I approached one and he started walking away, I was supposed to follow him. And then... I'm really not sure exactly. One minute I'm in the forest, the next I can't see or smell anything except for smoke, and the minute after that I'm staring down at a massive river of lava. There's a bridge leading to an opening in the opposite cliff face and I'm supposed to go in..."  Crux trailed off. With the pain at his throat growing duller it meant two things: 1. He was thinking clearer now and 2. Every other ache and pain had a chance to announce themselves now that the big one had quieted down some. His left eye twinged to remind him he'd cut the skin around it just getting across that bridge, he gently and carefully lifted a paw to his face and it came away clean. So it was stinging but luckily seemed pretty minor, not bleeding meant it could be handled later.

Crux forced himself to focus back in on Cryptis. "I did, but not without some bumps and bruises. There was a series of lava caves inside... One had a jump, I didn't make it."  He was skipping steps but they were largely unimportant to the retelling. "Next thing I knew I woke up to searing pain in my throat back in the woods."  And well the rest was more or less history. "I could have stopped Cryptis, I knew it was dangerous and I could have stopped pushing on. There was even a point where I realized if I kept going I couldn't go back the way I came... But something was egging me on. It didn't stop me from leaving, just made me want to keep going. I think-"  Crux cut himself off, it sounded silly and childish even to him and yet conversely it felt the most plausible the idea had ever been. He wasn't a child this time, his memory was pretty damn clear. Crux swallowed his pride, he'd take whatever judgment saying this would bring. He spoke, gaze sliding towards the direction of his hind legs: "Whatever caused this? I think I'm connected to it somehow."

"Speech"