"Asher?" Samantha yawned, giving him a bleary-eyed look as he popped into the room with Recall and she was woken up from her slumber. The hunter was in light sleep clothes to help ward away the chill in the night air, and she squinted as she tried to examine him in the darkened room. She'd reflexively reached for the enchanted bow and arrows she kept on her nightstand, but paused when she realized it was only him. "What's wrong? Did your tailing mission go poorly?"

"Not exactly," he said, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead as he turned and started grabbing some actual clothes for her to wear. "I'll tell you everything on the way, but long story short, it's not safe here anymore. The man that tried to kill me the other day probably knows he failed, and he's almost certainly going to try again. We need to get you guys into the forest. At least for a few days."

"Don't worry, I told Brian something like this might happen after your earlier warning. Though rather than talk about the master assassin after your life, I told him it would be a dedicated training week designed to ensure he receives a good origin element," she smiled, getting out of bed and quickly throwing on her hunting leathers. "Do we really need to rush like this though? I'm pretty sure most people can't teleport around like you can."

"We probably have some time," Asher admitted, earning a toothy grin from Samantha as he stopped to admire the view of her changing despite all his urgency. "But I figured it was better safe than sorry. Who knows, maybe Eight already has an agent nearby, and all he needs to do is send him a message or something."

"In that case, would you mind getting Brian prepped while I grab a few things?" Samantha asked, pulling him into a quick hug and returning his own kiss with a proper one on the lips before sitting down and lacing up her boots. "If we're going to be out there for more than a few days, I want to make sure we're prepared."

"Can do!" he said, still grinning over the surprise kiss. Heading over to Brian, Asher chuckled as he took in the twelve-year-old's unique sleeping position. It would seem finally getting a bed all to himself after sharing one with his older sister most of his life had resulted in Brian adopting some strange habits these past few weeks.

Currently, Brian was not only sprawled out across the entire bed, but he had his feet up near his pillow and his head hanging half-off the end of the bed. Asher had absolutely no idea how that was comfortable, but Brian seemed perfectly at ease, even snoring lightly as he slept.

"Brian," Asher whispered, not wanting to scare him and cause him to freak out. But whispering clearly proved pointless, and he sighed, reaching out with Distortion to poke him in the forehead all the way from the doorway.

"Hmm?" Brian grunted, squinting his upside-down eyes at Asher's silhouetted frame. "…Asher?"

"I'm impressed you could tell like that," Asher chuckled, grabbing the clothes Brian had tossed on the floor rather than in the wash bin and chucking them at him. "Time to get dressed. We're heading into the forest."

Asher might as well have splashed a cup of espresso in Brian's face, because the twelve-year-old bolted upright at the news, nearly falling off the bed in his excitement.

"Is it time for the training camp?!" he asked, scrambling to his feet and nearly falling over a second time as he struggled to pull both feet through the same pant leg. "Sam told me all about it, but I didn't think it would be so soon!"

"The camp's not going anywhere," Asher said, unable to keep himself from laughing as Brian glanced down, his brow furrowing as he realized after finally getting his pants on right they were both backwards and inside out. "Make sure you get dressed properly and pack some clothes. Meet us in the living room when you're ready. I'll be going with you guys for the first bit."

"Okay!" Brian shouted, quickly trying to fix his clothing.

Shaking his head, Asher left Brian to his struggles and found Samantha in the kitchen. The hunter was tucking strips of leather jerky into a pouch and carefully checking on her skinning knives to ensure they were sharpened and ready to go.

"Don't worry, if you realize you forgot something, I'll come and bring it back to you," Asher reassured her, very carefully giving her a hug from behind and kissing her cheek. As much as he enjoyed being in close physical contact with his girlfriend, while she was in the middle of maintaining her knives was not usually the best time.

"You do know I've gone on hundreds of overnight trips into the forest over the years, right?" Samantha pointed out, giggling as he moved down and planted a kiss on her neck. "Asher! Weren't you the one who said we were in a rush?"

"Sorry, you're right," he sighed, squeezing her one more time before letting go and stepping back. "It's hard to explain, but seeing you snap into action like this is kinda hot."

"Are you sure you don't just have some sort of knife-fetish?" Samantha asked, raising an eyebrow and poking the bandolier across his chest. "Speaking of which, aren't you supposed to have ten knives in that thing? Did you lose one?"

"First off, they're daggers," he argued, glancing down at the empty spot on his bandolier. "And I guess you could say that…" Asher said, wincing at the memory of one of his daggers being shattered and eaten by Leonard in his crazy wolf-form. "More so it was destroyed in battle."

"You'll have to tell me all about it later," Samantha said, holding his gaze for a moment to make sure he knew she was being entirely serious. From the very start of their relationship the two of them had agreed to tell the other everything, and Asher hadn't regretted the choice in the slightest. It was nice having someone who knew everything he was up to and who he could confide in, and he knew Samantha felt the same.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Hold on a second," Samantha said, her eyes going wide as they finally finished adjusting to the moonlight coming in from the windows and she spotted his leg. "Are you bleeding?"

"I got nicked by the last assassin I took out," Asher explained with a shrug, hoping Samantha couldn't see just how bloodstained and torn his pant leg was in the darkness. "Not a huge deal, I already healed up. I made a quick pit stop by Draken's place to warn him about the Guild targeting his elites before I Recalled."

"Got nicked," Samantha repeated, shaking her head in exasperation. "Asher, it looks like your leg was nearly torn clean off!"

"You know better than anyone I'm a bit harder to kill than that," he said, laughing at her scoff as she went back to preparing for the trip. While he waited for her to finish up and for Brian to get dressed, he pulled one of the enchanted bracelets from his Personal Rift, slipping it onto his wrist and reading the skill explanation that popped up.

Awareness (Tier 1) - Sense if anyone is observing you or your current position.

The explanation sounded useful, but as far as Asher could tell, the new skill wasn't actually doing anything. Curious, he turned around so that was facing away from Samantha and shoved a few shards into the bracelet to power it as he called out. "Samantha, would you mind looking at me for a second?"

"Uh, sure?" he heard from behind him. After a moment, he felt the hunter's gaze fall on him, as surely as if he had eyes in the back of his head. While he couldn't tell anything about the person watching him, he was able to sense her approximate position relative to himself.

Alright, this should be good enough.

"Sorry, just experimenting with a new enchanted item," he said, turning back around and grinning sheepishly. "I think it will make a good present though."

"Asher, you already won me over with the bow, not to mention the Water element. I don't need even more enchanted items," Samantha teased, winking at him before going back to her preparation.

It wasn't long before Brian finally emerged from his bedroom, wearing his clothes correctly and carrying a heavy pack on his back. He also had his own bow in hand and a small quiver of arrows attached to his hip.

"I'm ready for training!" he all but shouted, his eyes bouncing back and forth between Asher standing there and Samantha tucking the last of what they'd need into her pack. "What's first?"

"First, we're going to practice navigating the forest at night, and setting up camp in the dark. Silently," Samantha added, making sure to sound just as excited as Brian looked. "These are both essential skills for any hunter, and you're not passing my training course unless you can master them!"

"I can handle it!" Brian argued, looking to Asher for support. "Come on, Asher, tell her I can do it!"

"I don't know…" Asher grinned, chuckling at the look of betrayal on Brian's face. "He does like to talk…"

"I'm sure you'll do great," Samantha said, leaning over to give her brother a tight hug and somehow making Asher the bad guy. "We'll show Asher he doesn't know what he's talking about, right?"

"Yeah!" Brian nodded, turning and rushing out the front door. "I'll be outside!"

Rolling his eyes at the sudden turn of events, Asher took one last look around the cabin, trying to make sure they hadn't forgotten anything. "Is that it? I always used to feel like I was forgetting something when I had to leave my apartment in a hurry."

"Asher, we're good," Samantha chuckled, taking his hand and pulling him toward the door. "Come on, I think Brian might just explode if we don't hurry up."

Locking the door behind them, for what good it would do against a trained assassin, the three of them quickly made their way to the edge of the forest using the moonlight to guide them. Asher kept his head on a swivel as they crossed the open meadow, not fully trusting his newest Awareness skill to ensure that nobody had spotted them. Once they'd officially slipped into the treeline and out of sight, he sighed as what felt like a giant, invisible weight slipped off his shoulders.

Despite entering the forest, Samantha didn't let up on their pace. If anything, she pushed them even harder, quietly encouraging Brian to keep up as she all but melded through the forest. Asher was aware at this point that she had Natural Stride as one of her skills, which was a passive skill that allowed her to travel through even the densest of foliage as if she were strolling down a paved sidewalk. While Asher could simply cheat by carefully slipping into the astral or twisting space to navigate the same terrain, things were a bit trickier for Brian.

Even so, the wannabe-hunter showed his dedication to the training camp as he remained silent, not complaining in the slightest as they journeyed ever deeper into the forest. Finally, after what had to be nearly a straight hour of travel, Samantha let them come to a stop.

"This is as good a spot as any," she said, motioning for Brian to sit down and take a break. Despite doing his best to try and act like he'd been unfazed by their rapid pace, Brian still took the offered stump gladly, panting as he tried to catch his breath. Asher handed him a waterskin pulled from his rift as he finally unveiled his surprise.

"These are enchanted bracelets that will let you know when someone is watching you," he explained, handing one bracelet over to each of them. "I haven't tested them much yet, but I can't imagine them not coming in handy."

"I'm getting my own enchanted item?" Brian asked, staring dumbly at Asher and accepting the bracelet almost robotically. It seemed he was so shocked, he didn't even know what to do.

"It's for your own safety," he nodded, tapping the matching bracelet on his own wrist. "Make sure you run if you feel someone watching you out here, okay? And don't forget to put shards into it if it gets low."

"I'll give you the signal if we do sense anyone," Samantha whispered, her lips pressed thin as she tapped a finger against her hunting knife. Other than their general location, Asher could really only sense harm through his Eternal Mark. Because of that, their designated 'signal' was for Samantha to stab herself gently with her own knife. Through some very careful trial and error, utilizing a lot of Samantha's newfound healing skill, they'd figured out that was the best way to grab Asher's attention unless he was actively focusing on his Eternal Marks.

"Hopefully it won't come to that," he said, giving her a reassuring smile and checking on his marks to confirm that Leonard's corpse had yet to be moved and Jennifer was still hiding within the bunker. "Come on, let's get camp set up and grab some sleep. We've all got a big day tomorrow!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.