Burning Embers (book 3)

Prologue

The sweat was dripping from his forehead, and I wadded it away with a wet cloth. Kalen's condition had worsened. Everyone was worse for the wear, but none were as affect as Andreas. He remained constantly outside Kalen's room, and he believed nobody knew. But we all could see it. Andreas might have pretended not to care about Kalen, but we all knew it wasn't true.

Roxi had said there was nothing we could do to save him. That the bite of a dragon as powerful as Timophy was impossible to recover from. But that didn't mean that Andreas was going to stop looking. He was doing everything in his power, following every lead he could for even the smallest hint to something that would save Kalen. But so far, there has been nothing.

It has only been two days. Two days since the dragons attacked, and two days since we found out that Kalen was dying. None of us were sure just how much time he had left, but from the looks of him, we were all quite sure it wasn't much longer.

A sob shook me as I continued to try and make him as comfortable as possible. My vision was blurring and I could no longer absently wipe his sweat away. I let go of the cloth and burring my face into his chest, tears spilling from me like I had an endless supply. Kalen could not die. He couldn't. He deserved to live. There was so much he still had to do. So much he had yet to accomplish.

"Kalen, please... hold on. You can't die. Please," I begged, my voice a broken version of what it once was. There is no worse feeling that losing someone you cared about, and my sympathy with Andreas grew tenfold. He had to experience this more than once. So many people he cared about had died already.

I raised my head to the ceiling. "Please... if there is anyone listening.... Save him. Please. Just save him."

But no one, except the damaged man on the other side of the door, would hear my pleas.