Elderpyre: Book Two - Aspirant by Chris Wilkins

Author:Chris Wilkins [Wilkins, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2026-03-05T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 43

The small hours of the night came and went by, and Hunter never moved an inch, lost in deep meditation, forcing the Essence to cycle through his body again and again.

Dawn was still over an hour away when Fawkes woke up, her body snapping to attention as though some unseen hand had yanked her from sleep. Her eyes flew open, panicked. For a moment, she sat frozen, shoulders taut, breath shallow.

Hunter paused mid-cycle, cracking one gunky eye open in concern.

“Everything okay?”

Fawkes blinked a few times, her expression tightening as she rubbed her temples.

“I should be the one asking that,” she said, voice coarse. “Grimnir’s beard, I slept like the dead. Are you alright?”

“I guess. You know, considering.” He waved at her with his now-fixed left hand, wiggling his fingers. “Hand’s good as new.”

“Good.”

She glanced at the sand left in the hourglass, then toward the tent flap and the predawn gloom beyond.

“Let me get you some more water,” she said, pushing herself to her feet, still groggy. “You, keep cycling.”

Hunter gave a small, tired nod, already closing his eyes to focus again. She returned no more than five minutes later, handing him a waterskin bulging with fresh spring water. He took it eagerly, raised it to his lips, and started guzzling.

“Don’t tarry too long,” she said, brow creasing with worry. “Drink your fill, then get back to cycling. Every moment’s precious.”

“I think I’m done,” he said, pausing between gulps.

“You have to keep going,” Fawkes insisted, her voice sharp with impatience. “Doesn’t matter if your hand’s already healed; you need to keep absorbing the Bolus. If it’s not small enough for you to vomit up before it turns poisonous…” She fixed him with a grim stare. “Well, I might have to cut it out of your belly myself.”

“Good thing I already absorbed it all, then.”

“Bollocks,” she said bluntly. “Let me check.”

She stepped closer and leaned in, pressing the back of her hand to his forehead. Hunter flinched at the sudden contact but didn’t pull away. Nobody had cared for him like that in a long time.

“Fever’s gone,” she muttered, then grabbed his wrist. Her fingers pressed firmly against his pulse, holding it for a few moments as her frown deepened.

“Heartbeat’s steady…”

She crouched slightly to meet his gaze, grabbing his chin with surprising gentleness, peering into his eyes.

“Hold still.”

She tugged his lower eyelid with a fingertip, probably checking his irises for any unusual signs. After a tense pause, she finally stepped back, still frowning.

“Looks like you’re right. Maybe the Bolus lost some of its potency through the years. Either that, or that old fool Ghorval greatly exaggerated the risks of using it in his notes.”

“Or maybe I’ve gotten better at this cycling thing than you expected,” Hunter said with a tired smirk.

“Maybe just so.”

He leaned back slightly, his shoulders sagging under the weight of exhaustion. Still, he was filled with a sense of triumph he hadn’t felt in some time. It made all the pain and fatigue and excessive sweating worth it. He should have gotten a fair few skill upgrades out of this ordeal, too.

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