Chapter Two
Jarro walked on, past the burning village, through the forest of white trees, blowing softly in the wind. Only then did it occur to the hunter that he didn't get his armor fixed. He sighed softly but dismissed it quickly, once he was in Riften he would send for Balimund, the local blacksmith.
It only took a couple more days walking before Jarro saw the small, wooden town of Riften in the distance. Jarro smiled slightly, walking up to the gate.
"Whoah there. Before I let you into Riften..." one of the two guards outside began
Jarro tossed them both a sack of coin and they immediately opened the gate. He walked in and immediately noticed the marketplace in the middle of the town, bustling with traders, most of whom were probably criminals.
"You there!" a burly Nord in steel armor roared from one of the alleyways.
"What?" Jarro answered back in a levelled tone.
"You're new here, and the Black-Briars don't like new people in their turf." the Nord said.
"Hmph. Tell them they better get used to it." Jarro said, walking on.
That's when he remembered he had no idea where the dead drop was. He wandered around for hours, checking under every rock and behind every tree, but he found nothing. So he decided to head to the inn.
Jarro had rented a room for the night and read at it's desk. He had the dead drop location letter in his hands. He tried searching for some subtle hint, but all it said was in 'the town of wood, surrounded by birch, deep inside you'll find what you search', it must have been a riddle, Jarro wasn't stupid, the others just said where, but he had no idea how to solve it.
"But what does it mean?!" Jarro smacked a fist down on table.
The innkeeper, a feisty Argonian called Keerava ran up the stairs. When she noticed no one had broke in, she scowled.
"Don't do that!"
"Sorry, it's just I need to figure out this riddle." Jarro apologized.
"Why don't you just get some barrels of mead down you. I think a lot better when I'm full of mead!" Keerava joked.
"'Barrels'?" Jarro repeated, "that's it! It's made of wood, birch wood. It's in a barrel. The dead drop's in a barrel!". At that moment he ran out of the room.
It had been nearly an hour, and all Jarro had found in barrels were kettles, cabbages and one oddly-shaped wooden stick. Finally, Jarro had come to a barrel outside of a house called Honeyside. He reached around the barrel, trying to find any symbols, when he found what felt like a diamond shape. He popped off the lid and found a huge sack, full of coin,
"Hoo-Eeh! That must be over two-and-a-half-thousand coins!" Jarro mused.
When Jarro woke up, he was still in the Inn's room, and for that he prayed. A tap on the door ensued and Keerava ran in. The bad thing though, was that Jarro was getting dressed at that time.
"Whoah!" Jarro shouted.
"Oh, well um... I apologize! I didn't realize. Julianos that's big. But, hmph. Anyway, you have a letter." Keerava said, trying to look away but seemingly transfixed by Jarro's private coinpurse.
Keerava left and Jarro opened the sealed letter.
"Meet us at the Riften Warehouse in precisely ten minutes. If you do not, you will be killed." it read. Jarro immediately put his armour on, fixed from Balimund that last night. He then walked out the Inn and out of the city, coming to a stop at the big, heavy wooden doors, leading to the Warehouse. He sighed, making sure all dead drops were on him, and then opened the door.
He was encircled by at least nine Nords. They all dressed in rusty, clearly poorly-maintained, iron armour. The one in the middle however wore bright green, fine clothes and had clean-cut, blonde hair. He then stepped forward and spoke,
"So... we meet again Jarro Edecar. I assume you have the Dead Drops?"
"Yes." Jarro replied, handing all six gold bags to the client.
The nobleman nodded, smiling, "You did good, Jarro. You are as good a bounty hunter as they say. You did come in handy. In fact I would employ your services again, but, you know... business is business."
"Busi-?" Jarro started, then noticed one of the guards pull a dagger from his belt. The bounty hunter's eyes widened, and jumped back just before on of the other guards swiped him with his blade.
"Kill him! Kill him NOW!" the client shouted, taking two of his men and running out through a rear entrance.
"Damn it!" Jarro cursed, pulling out his scimitars. He swiped this way and that, but the guards were good. One of them came at with him with a hammer, and, although it didn't kill Jarro, it winded him, making him fall back. Then, another tried to stab him, but Jarro rolled out the way, pulling him down by his foot. Then he cut off the guard's head and chucked it at the others. The blood from it blinded another and he fell back, over a railing and into a pool of water below. Jarro threw his sword at a curve, bouncing off the amour of a guard and coming back to it's owner. Then the bounty hunter jumped off another guard, making him fall into the pool, and then Jarro stabbed another through the neck. When the others realized it was a futile attempt, they each took lit torched and set fire to the supporting struts, before jumping into the pool.
Jarro scowled before his lungs were filled with smoke. But he didn't have time to cough, he had to get out of there as soon as possible, the building was falling behind him. Suddenly, a massive tear sound came from above and a large section of rood landed just inches from Jarro. In a split second decision, he jumped into the pool of water as well. Several bodies floated to the surface, presumable dead from the smoke. Jarro chanced a look up, before the entire ceiling fell on him.
Jarro woke to the smell of fire and burning, and to the screams of dozens. He was buried underneath a strut which provided him a small pocket of air. He pushed it off him and held his breath, searching for an exit. He found a small grate and pulled several boards of wood from it. Suddenly, a flurry of sewage and excrement erupted from the grate, pushing Jarro back. He nearly gagged from the stench, but swam into the sewage pipe. It took what seemed like hours bur eventually jarro reached a manhole and pushed it, climbing into the city. That's when he found the source of the creasm and fire.
The city was on fire.
Jarro deduced his traitor client must have set the city's houses on fire to purge any chance of the hunter escaping. He looked around him, people were dead or being roasted alive all around him. He saw the innkeeper, Keerava trapped under a strut, helpless against it's weight.
"Help... me!" she shouted.
Jarro nodded and ran towards her, but then a wall exploded outwards and crushed her whole.
"Oh god!" Jarro shouted.
He ran towards the exit, stumbling here and there. The gate was blocked by a door, so Jarro jumped onto a barrel and jumped over the walls. Then, he found a horse and jumped onto it. He was about to sleep, when he saw his client riding away on horseback. He patted his steed and pointed to him, the horse somehow understanding, and then he went to sleep.
When he woke, his horse was galloping fast, pursuing the client. His two guards then emerged from the trees around. Jarro pulled out his scimitars and held them outwards, instantly decapitating the two. When he looked down though, Jarro noticed his scimitars were in bad condition, so he dropped them and pulled out his crossbow. He lined up his shot, his target barely in sight, and pulled back the string. Then, he took one bolt and slotted it in. He waited a few seconds and then blew out a long breath. He closed one eye... and pulled the trigger.