The Hunter Mage

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR

Vernon closed his eyes as he heard his friends leave. He was not worried, he was sure they would handle things at least Dev would. He also knew that Nevil would, considering he had mentioned his sister.

If it was not for anything else, his curiosity to see her would definitely prove to be more than enough for him to accompany Dev. However, Vernon was not sure if it was enough to keep him there but Vernon hoped that that would be the case. Not that Nevil's presence was anything special but it would probably take the load of Dev and save him some awkwardness.

He folded some more, suddenly feeling very cold. He closed his eyes tightly. He just needed to rest a little while, not too much, just a little, to help his head feel better.

He felt his tightly closed eyes loosen, his circle immediately followed. His body resting more on the bed than keeping the fold. He could tell he was falling asleep and he didn't fight it because that was what he wanted.

He didn't know when he finally slept and if he had to guess, not long after he realized he was dozing. His sleep was not dreamless but when he woke up, he could not remember what he had dreamt about, he just knew it was an unusual dream.

Vernon had woken up to footsteps, the sound of someone entering the infirmary. They slowly approached him, taking their steps one at a time. He could tell they were worried they would wake him up with their footsteps and were afraid of doing so.

Vernon almost chuckled, they did not have to worry after all he was already awake. Whoever it was, came close enough then stopped and just studied him. His first thought was to open his eyes but he knew he would not be the only one affected.

Aside from the brightness of the light against his eyes, whoever it was would most definitely be startled if he suddenly opened his eyes, so he gave it time gradually stretching as he pretended to slowly wake up before opening his eyes at the same pace, giving his retinas time to adjust to the light.

His visitor took a step back at his action but they did not move away. "You are awake," He heard as soon as he opened his eyes.

He squinted, trying to see who it was, they had their back to the light and his eyes were not fully adjusted. However, he already knew who it was.

"How do you feel?" She asked and took a seat. He shrugged a little and tried to get himself into a sitting position but ended up groaning out in pain. "Don't move." She called, panicking. "I see it is not that different from when I left you."

He nodded and stared hard at Bess, she and not changed from the first time he saw her almost two years ago. She was still plum, jolly, and super nice but for some reason, he could tell it was not for long, not her personality but her appearance.

"Do you have any news for me?" He managed to ask in between a slight cough.

"Sorry," she said first before answering but he waved it away. This was not her fault but he could take she was giving herself a bit of blame. "Nope," she finally answered, shaking her head. "Nothing really."

She paused a little looking up at the ceiling, having refused to meet his gaze since he opened his eyes. "The only person that can fix this is Lae and as usual she is in the palace, nobody can call her from there as she has not been gone for too long so the chances of her returning anytime soon are quite slim."

Bess looked very worried as she gave him this news. He could tell that she was bothered about his head, he too was but he figured she was especially bothered because she could not do anything about it which of course had not happened before and it didn't help that he was actually very sick.

She leaned forward on her seat as she tried to study him some more. She stretched out her hand to touch him and Vernon knew she was trying to heal him again but he could not feel anything. She sighed and took her hand away.

"Don't worry yourself too much, you said it yourself, all I need to do is drink enough cocoa and get some rest. I will be fine, you just don't know how long it will take but I am sure I will be." Vernon managed a weak smile but even as he said those words he did not believe them.

Bess' expression did not change at his words, instead, she looked a little sadder and Vernon knew, she knew, he was just trying to cheer her up and that he didn't really believe his words.

"It is just a little worrisome that I can't even heal the fever you have. Your temperature has been pretty high for hours now. I am getting slightly worried." She picked a strand of her hair and twisted it around her finger.

"I just have a slight headache, the body pain is less and I don't feel nauseated so I guess there is quite a difference. Sure, the fever isn't down yet but other symptoms are, so it definitely isn't all bad." Vernon said, slowly.

Everything was true except the headache, he still felt like someone had moved his father's workshop from the back of their house to the inside of his head. All he could hear and feel was constant banging. Sometimes it lessened but usually, it made him want to smash his head against something.

Bess sighed, "Have you eaten?" She suddenly asked.

The mention of food made him remember the one he had left untouched on the table and he immediately turned to look at it, only for him to find the table empty.