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Alcide had come to know these woods well during his nomadic life; he knew the forest trails and paths and had tread them more than few times before on his travels. He traversed from kingdom to kingdom with no particular destination, following familiar roads and trekking across the land and never really grew jaded from all his traveling from one place to the next; he enjoyed it. There was a sense of freedom to it. Many people didn’t seem to have that these days. And if they did have it, they didn’t seem to value it much in Alcide’s eyes.

His horse was walking along a narrow route that ran along the forest line. He let the animal choose his own pace and the beast certainly wasn’t in any hurry so Alcide assumed a slightly more relaxed posture on the saddle as well, letting his shoulders slouch casually, and resting his hands on the grip of the saddle. His eyes raked the surrounding woods every now and then, but it was calm all around him – until a scream pierced the air. Hearing it for the first time, it did not really elicit any particular reaction from him. It was not his duty to care about anyone else but for himself. There was a moment of silence and he continued to ride forward the trail, but another scream soon ricocheted through the still air. He pulled his horse to a halt and sighed through his nose, his heels digging into the horse’s flanks as he made the stallion turn around.

He stepped from his mount and threw the reins over the horse’s head and tied them to a branch, patting the animal’s neck as he walked around to its other side and began to walk through the woods toward where the scream had come from. He ducked his head under another branch and approached the bandits and the woman they had apprehended, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. What he saw didn’t really surprise him – the scream had belonged to a woman, after all. His face adorned a stony expression as he looked over at the men and their captive; his eyes flickering towards the blade that was held against the woman’s throat. The man holding her glanced at him coldly. ”Move along, this isn’t your concern.”

He chuckled darkly and continued to walk toward them slowly. ”No,” he agreed. ”It doesn’t concern me.” Alcide unsheathed his sword and calmly pointed it at the man, his eyes dark. ”What are you doing?” the man spat out, quickly looking at his friend. ”Step any closer, and I will slit her throat. I’m warning you.”

”No, you will not.” He smirked at the man. ”I recognize a coward when I see one,” Alcide spoke, taking a step toward the bandit again. The man was clearly hesitant and backpedaled slightly, dragging the woman with him and still pressing the knife against her throat, glancing at his partner again. From his peripheral vision he saw the other man trying to sneak up to his side but he didn’t react to it yet. Then the man lunged and Alcide acted swiftly. He sidestepped and expertly dodged the man’s attack, driving his own blade into the man’s stomach in return and then pulling it out, the blade glistening with blood. The bandit fell to the ground and then lay motionless. Alcide turned to point his sword at the man again. ”See how quickly he met his death? You will be next, unless you release her. Let her go. Now.”