Kael

I jolt into awareness, blinded by startlingly bright sunlight in an unfamiliar room. I have to blink repeatedly to clear my hazy vision while reaching desperately for the woman who’d just been kneeling beside the bed, her hand clutching mine. I grope thin air, grimacing against a sharp rush of heat that funnels through my body like a snake, slithering through my veins. It… hurts. Hurts like hell, actually. The heat is nearing a boiling point when a sharp yelp booms nearby, followed by scuffling feet and the sound of something shattering on the ground. The light abruptly fades as curtain rods squeal against metal, and then someone’s touching...