Hours had passed and Asher had been fast asleep with Leah keeping watch over him. They had slept at an abandoned cabin in the forest. A fire crackled not far from her as she stared out the window at the snow coated landscape while she had her bare feet dug into a bearskin rug. She hadn't slept all night so far.
She couldn't believe her own memory. Asher had offered a deal with Willow to attempt to restore her name on one condition. When Willow rejoined the Thorn family, she would try to restore the Blackwood family name. On top of that, Willow had accepted the terms of that agreement.
Willow had pulled a blanket onto the floor and was curled up, almost like a dog. She hadn't mentioned why she was practically exiled from the Thorn family, only that she had a falling out with them. Leah was still in the mindset that she didn't trust Willow at all. In the end though, she did trust Asher and his judgement. He didn't just idly make a deal with Willow, there seemed to be intent behind it. Leah had to wonder, what did he hope to gain from the influence of a largely dead noble house?
She shook her head at the thought. Asher had never given her reason to doubt his intentions, let alone question them. Still, it did seem to come out of nowhere for a man that almost always had a reason behind what he did.
She watched the movement patrolling around the cabin. Asher had told his followers to defend him with their lives. They had no interest in Leah as Asher had already told them she was friendly. They didn't appear to have a great amount of intelligence, but it was enough for basic commands. Even the regular goblin didn't struggle with the command to protect the cabin.
As the sun began to rise, Leah shook Willow awake to take the next watch. She figured she would get some sleep before they started the next day fully. Every day that they spent in the open would be a new risk for all of them going forward. Leah didn't figure the people who were after Asher would allow any of them to live now that they knew what his power was and what it was capable of. She sighed as she laid down on one of the rugs in the room to rest her eyes, having no idea what the next day would bring.
--
Asher awoke to Willow sitting in a chair staring out the window. He saw that Leah was fast asleep on the floor. As he slid his feet off the bed, Willow turned to look at him. "How long was I asleep for?" Asher asked.
"Probably half the night. It won't be long before the tournament begins calling competitors to fight again," she answered to the best of her abilities. The light of dawn was peeking above the horizon. Asher stretched and took a couple of steps towards his boots and Leah immediately shot up, wide awake.
"Where do you think you're going?" she asked plainly.
"Back to the tournament. I have six more fights before I'm done. The money from this is enough to clear almost all of my debts by itself, not counting the coin I'm gaining from the bets. I'm going to continue. If it becomes too dangerous, I will withdraw with what winnings I have gained. I can't imagine I'll have too many issues though," he explained.
He smiled and continued, "I'd almost be willing to wager that they didn't expect an entire group of trained assassins to go missing from one or two people. Now that there is a third person added into the mix, that just covers another angle right away."
Willow almost seemed about to argue, but Asher shushed her quickly. "If they know that you found out about me, they'll be after you now, too. You're in this now, whether you actually wanted to be or not. Understand? Your own curiosity got you involved in this. Deal with that as you see fit, but you are now in our group. That means, don't breathe a word of this to anyone you cannot fully trust to never tell a soul about what they find out. If you do, it's likely your life on the line."
Willow gulped as she realized exactly what she had done. She was in a situation that would get her killed if she was found out. Her eyes widened at that thought. She finally spoke after several moments of silence, "I understand what you're saying."
"I hope so," Asher replied immediately.
Willow knew she didn't have the support of her family behind her, so she was fully alone in all of this. They would not protect her, otherwise she may not have cared so much about the mysterious group that appeared to be hunting Asher. She groaned in defeat as the reality of the situation truly set in that she was now stuck with Asher and Leah.
Within another hour, they were all preparing to go back into the city. Asher told Leah, "Don't worry about me. They wouldn't have another group ready so soon. They didn't expect both of us, let alone for me to have gained so many different abilities to give me an edge in combat. I sought out one ability specifically for this tournament because it excels in close quarters fights. I won't be taken down so easily, even by surprise attacks."
"You forget the shadow man that defeated both of us," Leah stated with a shudder as she remembered the pure terror she was enveloped by during that encounter.
"This isn't like that, Leah. You know that. These men are flesh and blood. Whatever that thing is, in it's own strange way, it seems to want me to succeed as well. It's weird. It's almost like it wants to see me grow more powerful than it is. It is giving me every tool it can to make it happen."
Willow interrupted with, "Hold up, shadow person? It beat both of you at the same time?" She then stared at Leah. "You're scared of it?" Willow stared at Leah who simply nodded. That simple gesture sent a chill down Willow's spine, she had never seen Leah scared of anything.
Asher stated, "This is where we part ways for now. I have a match to attend to." He walked away into the arena, leaving Leah and Willow behind. As soon as he had gotten into the check-in area, he handed in his weapons. Everything went through without a hitch, like he figured. The one thing he hadn't told Leah is that he suspected if they couldn't get him outside the tournament, they'd likely try for him inside of it.
He was going against a group of about twenty contenders in a last man standing style match. Had he befriended more members of the guild, he may have been able to team up with some of them in the fight until close to the end. There was one special rule to this match in particular, though. There would be two winners in this match, moving on to the next.
If nothing had happened yet, Asher was sure it would come during the match. He didn't trust that the contenders weren't all after his life. He would be on the defense for the entire match, knowing there was a possibility that at least one of his opponents was going to try to kill him.
He waited sat at the iron gate, staring out. There were gates that matched it surrounding the area. After what felt like an eternity, Asher heard his name being called, and the gate started to rise.