Chapter 67: Chapter 67: The Smiling Village

They rode under the cover of night, the sound of horses thundering down a dirt path. The forest surrounded them, and as if it knew their foul intentions, it stood perfectly still. No wind blew, and no creatures rustled in the hedges. At the head of the hundred-plus group of men was a red-headed fellow named Jackson. He had served the Lord of Roriksten for years, doing the noble's dirty work when he had no time to do it himself. Such tasks included killing commoners who had angered the noble, extorting money from merchants, and even, on rare occasions, kidnapping women that the lord fancied but were of lower status.