The world did not greet Kael gently when he landed this time. There was no dramatic crash, no explosion of dirt and stone, just a sudden, violent halt that made his entire body seize as if it had slammed into an invisible wall.
One moment he was flying, the next he was kneeling on solid ground, his hands trembling against cold stone as his lungs desperately tried to pull in air that refused to come easily.
A cough tore through him almost immediately. It was worse than before, deeper, harsher, dragging something heavy up from his chest.
Blood spilled onto the pale rock beneath him, thick and dark, spreading in uneven streaks. The cold air of the mountain only made it worse, biting into his lungs with every breath, sharpening the pain instead of dulling it.
