Chapter Two: Good Deed

The air was warm and the sky beyond was clear. The road turned from stone to dirt a few meters out of town. There were open fields of grass that teamed with animals. As Jethro walked along the path he saw elk drinking from a nearby stream. A few miles down the road he came across a small cottage. A sign in front read "Wallen General Goods Store". Jethro decided to walk in and see what they might have.

The place was filled with all sorts of items. There were clothes, food, and even a few swords. There was a counter where a middle aged man stood. "Welcome, welcome, come on in see what you like!" the man exclaimed. Jethro nodded. As he looked around he noticed that a few of the items were damaged. He also noticed that there were areas around the store that indicated signs that a fire had occurred. And it looked recent. Jethro took off his helmet and approached the counter. "Hello good sir, find anything you like?" the man asked. "Yes I did," Jethro replied, "But I noticed that some of the items were damaged and there was clear evidence of a fire." "Did something happen here?" Jethro asked. The man looked at Jethro nervously. "Yeah just a little accident earlier, nothing more," the man replied. "Quite the damage for a little accident," said Jethro, The man looked even more nervous and frustrated. "Well that's all it was so either buy something or get out!" the man yelled.

All of a sudden a woman ran around the corner to the counter. "Hold on William," the woman said, "he may be able to help." Jethro looked toward the woman. She was about the same age as the man. "Help with what?" Jethro asked. "Every month a group of bandits comes by and demands 1,000 gold coins or else they would kill us!" said the woman, "They came by today but we were short of a few coins. So they used their weapons to damage many of our items and set the place on fire!" "That's awful, sorry you had to go through that," said Jethro. The man named William finally spoke up. "To make matters worse they took our daughter Delilah hostage," the man said, "They said if we didn't have enough next time that they would have their way with her and then kill her." "Please you have to help us get our daughter back," the woman said with tears in her eyes. "Jethro looked at both of them and then nodded. "I'll bring your daughter back safe, you have my word," Jethro said, "Do you know where their hideout is?" "Yes they're hiding out in a cave up the road from here," the man replied. "Thanks," said Jethro. He turned around, put back on his helmet, and walked out of the store.

Jethro walked up the road until he saw a trail of footprints that led off into a patch of trees. He followed the footprints through the trees and came across a cave. There was a man standing outside the entrance to the cave. He wore a gray leather tunic. His head was shaved and his face was covered in dirt. He had a sword on his right side. "Turn back boy," the man said, "You're not supposed to be here." "Actually I am supposed to be here," Jethro responded, "You see you've been harassing that store owner down the road from here, and well that ends today."