"Come on dwarf! Keep up!" High Elf Archer frowned as she watched her comrade stop by a nearby tree to catch his breath.

"Give us a moment there Long-Ears. We dwarves are natural sprinters of course…very dangerous at a short distance." Dwarf Shaman placed his hand along the tree to support himself as he struggled to catch his breath. "We've been running for a quite some time, and I am unfortunately not built to keep up with the rest of you."

"Think of it as a way to lose some of that gut."

"Bah, better to be a barrel than a stick…or should I say anvil?" Dwarf Shaman smiled as he looked toward his comrade.

"Don't start with me dwarf!" High Elf Archer fumed as she crossed her arms to cover her chest.

The others saw this and for Lizard Priest he could not help but chuckle, Goblin Slayer was silent as ever, but Half-Dragon Mother was deeply confused by this. This group had willingly volunteered to assist in the retrieval of her daughter, these people had only just met her and were ready to aid in whatever manner. Though the state of her daughter still troubled her greatly, she did feel at ease as she heard the group talk with one another. The only one she was unsure of was the armored man, Goblin Slayer; she looked over toward him, he made no attempt to retaliate for her earlier attack against him, but could not shake the feeling that there was something evil about him.

"If need be, I could always carry you Sir Mage, or you could ride along top Wolf." Lizard priest was ready to provide a quick solution to their minor predicament.

"We're it just this group Scaly I'd let you, but I need to maintain some dignity. As for riding with Wolf, I don't feel it would be proper to share the ride with our fair young lass here." Dwarf Shaman smirked as he looked over toward Half-Dragon.

The small gesture brought a small blush to Half-Dragon Mother's face which brought a chuckle out of everyone save Goblin Slayer and Wolf.

"Why don't we take a few minutes to rest, then we can continue on with the pursuit." Lizard Priest then turned toward Half-Dragon Mother and slightly bowed his head. "Rest assured, we will immediately get back to the task at hand, we will not abandon your young daughter."

"Thank you."

Half-Dragon dismounted Wolf to allow the large wolf to rest as well as she joined the others. Dwarf Shaman had taken a seat on the ground to help himself to a drink of his fire wine while High Elf Archer was off criticizing him. Off to the side, she could see Goblin Slayer looking around the area, staying a bit away from the group. She found Lizard Priest slightly away from the others, his eyes closed and hands brought together as she thought he was praying.

"Are you alright?"

"My apologies, I was praying to my ancestors to guide us to find your daughter and to keep her safe." Lizard Priest smiled as he looked toward Half-Dragon Mother. "I'm more concerned for you though, how are your injuries and fatigue?"

"My injuries are fine thanks to you and with that potion I'm not as tired as I was earlier, that and riding on the dire wolf has been greatly helpful." Half-Dragon Mother then looked around and noticed the large dire wolf laying on the ground looking toward Goblin Slayer.

"Milord Goblin Slayer is one who always comes prepared for just about any situation. I'm thankful he had the stamina potion on hand to aid in your recovery."

"I…I still don't trust him. He may have helped me, but that was only because you and the others were around. Had he been alone I'm sure he would have attacked and killed me like those before."

"That is wholeheartedly untrue, Milord Goblin Slayer would not attack you. That large dire wolf there is loyal to him because he saved the poor creature, while the rest of our party was cautious about the creature, he went about breaking the chains that bound it." Lizard Priest frowned as he heard her speak of his friend.

"Why are you so loyal to him?" Half-Dragon Mother turned back toward Lizard Priest, curious about his devotion to this human.

"That man, my friend and comrade, has saved me and the others countless times. Though he may be cold in his demeanor, he is one who will put himself in danger's way for the sake of others. It is also because of him, that I was introduced to the delightful food known as cheese…sweet nectar." Lizard Priest smiled as he thought about the exquisite food.

"Cheese?"

"It is quite the delicacy, after we have reunited you with your daughter, I shall treat the both of you to it back at the guild."

"I…I'm sorry for my attitude toward your comrade. Many of the humans I've encountered have always treated us with violence, others with fear. I believe it is because we are seen as non-prayers and must therefore be minions of chaos. Had I met someone like this Goblin Slayer early on, then maybe I would not act so hateful."

"I cannot begin to imagine what tribulations you and your family must have had to endure, but when you meet the rest of our party you will find them just as eager to aid you." Lizard Priest smiled as he gently placed both hands on her shoulders. "We will find those who hurt you, rescue your daughter and make them pay."

Half-Dragon Mother looked up at the taller lizardman, and found herself lost in his yellow eyes. He himself was doing the same as he stared at her green eyes, but soon took note of the slight blush on her face and where he had placed his hands then quickly removed them, bringing them back to his sides.

"Forgive me." Now it was his turned to blush as he looked away, all the while trying to clear his throat.

Half-Dragon Mother smiled at his actions then calmly reached out to take hold of his hand in hers, the small action brought an even larger blush to the lizardman's face. This did not go unnoticed as Dwarf Shaman and High Elf Archer looked on with wide smiles upon their faces.

"Bravo Scaly." Dwarf Shaman stroked his beard then gently nudged the elf's side. "You could learn something from her?"

"Wh, what are you talking about?" A slight blush present on her face as he did her best to keep her voice down.

"I'm just saying, perhaps you should take the lead on things, just like our lass at the guild and the one on the farm had during the fall festival, otherwise…you might end up losing something that is precious to you?" Dwarf Shaman, even the sly person, smiled as he motioned toward his other side.

High Elf Archer, at first not sure what he was implying, then looked over toward the direction he was motioning and caught sight of Goblin Slayer still looking around the area. The realization of what the dwarf was saying suddenly hit her and her face grew even redder. The sudden change in her appearance made the dwarf laugh which drew the attention of the others.

"Is something wrong Sir Mage?"

"Just seeing Long-Ears react to the fire wine, she still can't handle more than a sip."

"We should move before too much time is lost." Goblin Slayer dispassionate voice called out to them. "It will be dark in a few hours. We should cover as much ground as we can before the temperature drops any further."

"Quite correct Milord Goblin Slayer, then let us make haste!"

xxxx

That night the, the caravan of monster hunters set up camp and once again indulged themselves in ale and berating the captured animals, deeply enjoying the frightened expression on the young Half-Dragon's face. Meanwhile, Goblin Slayer's party wound up setting up a small camp in a clearing, they agreed to sleep for few hours then they could continue on with the pursuit, Goblin Slayer elected to stay awake and would wake them when it was time to move. Lizard Priest and Half-Dragon Mother were bundled up together with a gentle smile upon her face as she rested her head against his shoulder.

Elsewhere, deep under the city, several men in black robes moved around the sewers in this makeshift dungeon as they brought large cages filled with the bodies of giant rats and giant roaches. What was unique about these men in black robes was the unusual mask attached to their faces, a mask that resembled a bird's beak with large glass lens for the eyes. A man with medium length brownish hair grunted as me moved past all these men and their hideous monstrosities to find the man he had been doing work with. On his way toward the "lab" he passed by several holding cells with people or various races and sexes looking rather beaten and defeated. Further ahead were the cells for the experiments, creatures he had never seen before, one growled ferociously forcing him to back away as he reached for his short sword.

"You damn…what the…"

He looked at the creature within the cell, looking at how tall it stood, easily pushing past six feet and thought he could see three faces growling at him, these faces were at different spots along the creature's body. He soon took notice of four more of these creatures lumbering toward the front.

"Rest assured, those cells will hold my lovely Abominations, until I'm ready to unleash my demonic brood upon the streets."

Elder Animal Tracker turned toward his right to see a tall man in similar black robes walking toward him, this man had a long thin face, pale skin and long oily black hair that went down to his mid back. As he drew closer, Elder Animal Tracker could see dark splotches all staining the man's robes.

"Blood. What the hell has he been up to?" He quickly dismissed the thought from his mind as he readied his package for delivery. "Do I need to be concerned about wearing one of them masks like your servants?"

"Those are for my Faceless Men, their identities are to remain unknown, even to their brothers. I have them wear those masks so they can sweep over the fields of the dead and select specimens for me to work with."

"Like a crow picking at carrion?"

"Exactly. Now what have you brought for me today?"

Elder Animal Tracker set his package down and retrieved a glass jar containing four strange circular objects; the other took the jar and curiously looked over the contents with a wicked smile.

"What have we here?"

"I got them from a fisherman off the coast. Kraken eggs."

"Kraken?" The other turned back toward Elder Animal Tracker.

"You said you were looking for something that could be used in water, so here you are."

"Kraken are sea-faring creatures, I plan to use them in fresh water…but I'll be able to make this work. I'll take them."

"Pleasure doing business with you."

"What of your brother? When can I expect my next shipment of test subjects?"

"He should be here in a few short days along with the caravan? Just what the hell are you doing with all these damn monsters anyways?"

"Curious?" A smirk covered the other's face.

"I normally keep my nose out of others business so long as the money is good, and you've always paid, but yeah, I'm curious."

"Then follow me." The other smiled wickedly, his reddish eyes had an orange glow about them in the dim torchlight.

Reluctantly, Elder Animal Tracker followed behind the other, passing more of the monstrosities until he came upon the lab as it were. In this lab were various blood stained tools, glass vials filled with mysterious liquids, and off to the side he could see a large vat or cauldron containing a bright green liquid.

"What the hell is that?"

"Life."

"What?"

"That is the secret to life. When I was still a normal practicing magic user, my miracles could heal those who were injured, remove toxins from the body and treat sickness, but the one thing no one, not even I could do, was stop death from occurring…until now." The other gave a sinister chuckle as he pointed forward with his gloved hands. "Would you like to see it in action?"

Elder Animal Tracker was growing nervous as he looked forward and saw two goblins strapped to wooden tables barely conscious. He looked around further and caught sight of what looked like a werewolf on another table, in fact it was the very one he had caught some time ago, but now its arms and legs were missing. The other saw the surprised look on his face and followed his gaze until he saw the werewolf.

"He's quite alive not to worry."

"Wha, why are his limbs gone?"

"To keep him from running away, I need him alive to produce more blood for me. Back to the matter at hand, let me show you what may even put the gods to shame."

The other walked toward the cauldron and taking a nearby vial scooped out some of the liquid. He then walked over toward the weakened goblins and forced the liquid into their mouths and down their throats.

"Now we wait." He smiled as he took a few steps back to join Elder Animal Tamer.

It was nearly a minute but then the goblins started to shriek, the first thrashed about violently as it began to vomit up blood before finally coming dying, its stomach began to dissolve as if consumed by a slime until the putrid guts spilled onto the floor with a sickening splat. Elder Animal Tracker covered his mouth as he felt he was on the verge of vomiting from the sight and smell.

"Not as successful as I would have wanted, but that is why I continue my research. Now how about the other?"

The second goblins thrashed about as well, but unlike the first there was a noticeable change. It's body was extending and expanding, it's monstrous form broke the table and as it stood, this once child-sized creature was now standing seven feet tall, as muscular as an troll, it's skin stretched from the expansion that it now appeared almost translucent as the muscles and fat could be clearly seen. This creature's yellow eyes focused on the two and it started to stalk toward the two, it's forearms so long it seemed to be walking on its fists and its legs. Elder Animal Tracker nervously backed away from the monster, but the other remained still with a smile on his face as he calmly raised his right hand.

"Stop."

The massive creature did as it was told and came to a halt, growling as it waited for the next instruction. Elder Animal Tracker was in complete shock as he watched the others calmly walk around the creature, studying its body.

"Yes, enhanced muscle mass and bone structure…reduced intelligence, but obedient. Very nice. You…my Brute, and others like you shall crush any that stand in your way. Now…go to the cell."

The monstrous Brute grunted before turning and calmly walking into the nearby open cell, once inside a Faceless Man closed the door behind it securing the lock before returning to his normal duties.

"What…what in the name of the gods have you done?" Elder Animal Tracker grew nervous as he looked toward the other.

"I was given divine insight from the gods above and allowed to solve the ultimate question that plagues man." The other smiled wickedly.

"What question?"

"How to restore and create life of course. By doing this research, I am well on my way to becoming what I was destined to become…very soon I shall become a god! As a normal healer I could only go so far, but now…as a Necromancer, I shall bring true chaos to this world and watch it burn." The Deranged Necromancer threw his head back in a fit of hysterical laughter which echoed down the sewers.

xxxx

It was late in the morning, nearly lunchtime when the raiders, or monster hunters as they would have called themselves started to finally get themselves ready to move. In their long night of celebrating and sleeping, they wasted precious hours moving on toward their destination, the Capital, but this lack of time on their part would be exploited by the group of adventurers who were now setting themselves up to strike at the group.

"Hurry up you lot, we got to make up for lost time!" Younger Monster-Tamer looked around for his companion who rode on the wagon with him. "Get you fat hide out here now!"

"Hang on, let a man piss in peace!" Animal Wrangler replied hidden in the forest as he relieved himself.

Younger Monster-Tamer chuckled to himself as he thought about the payout they would receive from the large bounty. If the Necromancer would not pay for the creatures they could be sold for the games further into the desert. He suddenly paused as he caught sight of two large shadows up on the hill, soon enough the rest of his party caught sight of these figures. One was a human figure in dirty leather armor and the other beside him was a large wolf standing nearly as tall as the human.

"A dire wolf! I don't know who the fool is, but the moment we kill him we can take that beast as well." Younger Monster-Tamer smiled as he looked toward armored man and smiled. "Good morning there friend what can we do for you? I don't suppose you'd be willing to sell us that dire wolf?"

"You have a young child taken prisoner; you will release her." The armored man's voice was dispassionate, cold in his response.

Half-Dragon Daughter heard what the person said and she cautiously looked toward the top of the hill and saw this person and the wolf; initially she was scared of this figure as he appeared to be another human and she worried about what he and the wolf would do to her if they got hold of her.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, we have no such girl just animals and monsters. Even if we did have such a person, they would be a spoil of war, we are not obliged to just surrender goods. I would recommend that you just leave your dire wolf there and walk away before we kill you."

Goblin Slayer looked back at the caravan of men, fifteen men that he could see mostly armed with sword though he did see three with crossbows ready to attack, but then caught sight of the young girl through the bars of her cage, the girl's bright green eyes much like her mother's, and clenched his fists at the state she was in.

"We're going Wolf." Goblin Slayer took hold of his sword as the large dire wolf growled as he barred his teeth toward the men below.

Just before the with the crossbows could fire, the closest man was struck in the head by an arrow. The other two men looked around nervously but then they too were struck by arrows. In the confusion of the attack, several figures rushed forward from the forest and Goblin Slayer and Wolf charged forward. The panicked men did there best to defend themselves, but they were easily overpowered by the strength and ferocity of the lizardman and the surviving half-dragon. Younger Monster-Tamer nervously looked around the area watching as the number of raiders in his party had been reduced by half, in a panic he ran toward the nearby cages and quickly started opening the cages, hopeful the wolves they had caught would attack his attackers. Unfortunately, many of the wolves scattered with only three of them charging forward to attack those before them, one of which was another one of his own men.

"This…this can't be happening, who the hell are these guys? Why are they so damn persistent about this little brat?" He quickly caught sight of the Half-Dragon Mother burning one of his men with her fire breath and realized what he needed to do.

He quickly, went to the cage where the young girl was and quickly opened the cage, the young girl backed as far away as possible but the horrid man got hold of her head and pulled as she cried out in pain.

"Get over here you damn beast!" Younger Monster-Tamer held the young crying child close toward him, pointing his sword towards her small body.

Younger Monster-Tamer suddenly looked up to see the group of adventurers glaring at him, the rest of his men slain. He back further up toward the wagons as the adventurers moved closer with weapons drawn, but would not do anything the endanger the young girl.

"That's far enough! You come any closer, and I'll kill this animal."

"She is no animal…that is what you are." Lizard Priest tightly clenched his dragontooth blade.

"Give me back my child!"

"That's not happening. You've killed my men, put me behind schedule, and I'm not about to walk away from this with nothing!"

High Elf Archer glared at this man, how dare he endanger the young girl, but thankfully his attention was on Lizard Priest and Half-Dragon Mother, which meant she could act. She let loose her arrow which flew forward and struck the cruel human in the left shoulder, making his cry out in pain and releasing his grip on the girl who quickly ran away. Half-Dragon Mother charged forward and then tackled the man the ground snarling as she raised her clawed hand high. Dwarf Shaman and High Elf Archer themselves rushed forward to tend to the young crying child.

"No, no, no, please don't kill me! I…I never meant to hurt you! I…I wasn't going to hurt the girl, I swear!" Younger Monster-Tamer nervously stammered as tears ran down his face.

"You attacked us, tortured us, left me for dead. I shall put an end to your evil seed right here and now!"

"Please…please don't kill me! I…I'm so sorry! I've…I've learned my lesson; I'll find a way to repent I swear!" The cruel human broke down sobbing like a child himself as he begged for his life.

Half-Dragon Mother glared at this human as she readied to attack, but then caught sight of her daughter cowering near the dwarf and elf. The look in her eyes shocked her, what did she look like to her daughter as she loomed over this man.

"No…she's been through enough."

Half-Dragon Mother started to lower her hand, but that was what Younger Monster-tamer was waiting for; with a hidden dagger in his left shirt, he suddenly stabbed her in stomach. Half-Dragon Mother cried out in pain as she stood and turned holding her injured stomach while the others could only look on with wide eyes. The cruel human reached for his sword and quickly stood slashing with his sword in an upward swing toward the half-dragon's back, hopeful to cut her back but instead cut off her right wing close to the shoulder blade. Half-Dragon Mother screamed as she collapsed to the ground, the pain unbearable, her daughter broke free from the others and rushed to her mother's side. She was distressed by her mother's injuries when she suddenly felt an overwhelming evil presence and turned, looking up to see the crazed face of the cruel human as he raised his sword to strike at them both. Though terrified, she stood with arms outstretched in a feeble attempt to protect her mother, who turned with wide eyes to see her daughter stand before her.

"Rot in hell you…"

Before he could finish, his forearm was struck by Goblin Slayer's sword, lopping it off at the before the elbow joint. Younger Monster-Tamer screamed as he held his bleeding stump of an arm before being struck across the face by Goblin Slayer's left fist knocking him to the ground. Goblin Slayer looked down toward the man with the broken nose before turning his gaze upon both Half-Dragon Mother and Daughter. Despite the pain Half-Dragon Mother was in complete shock of seeing Goblin Slayer come to their rescue while her daughter was slightly terrified of this armored man looking down at her.

"Are you alright?"

Half-Dragon Daughter was complete shock of hearing this and although scared nodded her head toward the man.

"Good."

Lizard Priest angrily stalked toward the cruel human who struggled to drag himself away until something got hold of his shirt and he was tossed aside. Now on his back, he looked up with wide eyes, blood still running down his face as he looked up at the glaring face of the lizardman.

"Pl, please…show mercy."

"You wretched excuse of a human, you who delight in the suffering of others…I shall end you now."

Lizard Priest raised his blade high and as he brought his arm crashing down it was stopped by Goblin Slayer who held the lizardman's arm with both hands.

"M, Milord Goblin Slayer…what are you doing? Unhand me at once!"

"Not here."

"What are you talking about? This man needs to be…"

"Look at the girl."

Lizard Priest turned his head and finally saw Half-Dragon Daughter sobbing as she looked over the dwarf and elf tending to her injured mother. In that moment, Lizard Priest suddenly realized he was about to add to the turmoil those two had endured.

"I…I'm sorry Milord Goblin Slayer, I was going to let my anger get the better of me."

"Tend to her injuries. I will deal with him." Goblin Slayer looked toward the young girl, though in the past would not have thought twice about doing what needed to be done, but for some reason felt he needed to help this young girl.

Younger Monster-Tamer nervously looked around as the dwarf and elf went about opening all the cages, the various creatures and monsters running away in various directions. Lizard Priest used his miracle of refresh to heal the injuries of Half-Dragon Mother while her daughter looked on with wide eyes. Towering over him was the armored warrior, his red eyes shining within the darkness of his helmet, beside him was the large dire wolf. Goblin Slayer reached into his pouch and took out a white rag and proceeded to tear it into two strips before calling to the elf.

"Here."

"What's this Orcbolg?" High Elf Archer took the strips of cloth in her hands and looked over them curiously.

"Place those in your ears."

"My ears…why?"

"Your hearing is very acute, you don't need to hear what is about to happen."

"What is about to…Orcbolg are you?"

"I will not start until you've all gone." Goblin Slayer then looked down toward Wolf. "Stay with them."

Wolf tilted its head to the side as it looked toward the armored human, but soon heard the another member of his pack call to him.

"Wolf, I require your assistance my friend." Lizard Priest motioned with his hand for the large dire wolf to approach.

Wolf calmly walked over toward Lizard Priest and the two half-dragons. Half-Dragon Daughter hid behind her mother as the massive creature drew near and started to sniff them. Still frightened she then felt a heavy hand gently pat her back and as she looked up saw the smiling face of the lizardman.

"Fear not little one, Wolf is a gentle giant, your mother has already had the opportunity to ride upon him."

Half-Dragon Daughter looked back toward her mother to see her smile weakly at her, she then looked up at the dire wolf and cautiously reached out pet the wolf's snout, smiling when she saw the beast's tail wag. Lizard Priest carefully placed both Half-Dragon's upon Wolf's back before they were joined by High Elf Archer and Dwarf Shaman but frowned as they looked back toward Goblin Slayer. Goblin Slayer still towered over the cowering Monster-Tamer but nodded his head for them to start moving before he took care of this cruel human. High Elf Archer sighed as she placed the torn pieces of cloth in her ears, not wanting to imagine what Orcbolg was going to do. Goblin Slayer watched as his party members moved further and further away until he could no longer see them, then allowed himself to turn back toward the cowering human.

"Now Beloved…let us punish this mortal. He steals things that don't belong to him…hurts others for his own pleasure…he is no different than a goblin."

"And I am Goblin Slayer." Goblin Slayer drew out his mace, no longer fighting the dark influence that flowed through him.

"Wait…wait a moment, I can pay you!"

"Foolish mortal!" Goblin Slayer's voice had changed, sounding demonic as his bloodlust took control. "You're screams will be sweet music to my ears before I wipe out all the mortal races!"

"No…what…what are you?" Younger Monster-Tamer cowered in fear of the monstrous figure, so scared was he that he urinated himself.

"I…am…Death!"

Goblin Slayer brought his mace crashing down upon the screaming man crushing his skull but was not satisfied as he continued to pummel the corpse over and over. Deeper in the woods, Animal Wrangler hid from the entire fight, thankful his need to relieve himself that morning probably saved his life, but from his hiding spot saw the savagery of this man this…Goblin Slayer who laughed wickedly as the blood and tissue splattered upon his armor.

xxxx

"I…I was careless and allowed that horrid human to disfigure me." Half-Dragon Mother frowned as she reached for her right shoulder and could feel the sore gash where her wing should have been.

Now further away from the raider camp, the party set up a small camp themselves to tend to any lingering injuries the two half-dragons had.

"It…it was my fault, I should have reacted faster to help you and your daughter." Lizard Priest moved closer toward Half-Dragon Mother and took her hands in his. "I am glad that both of you are safe and you are not disfigured."

"But…my wing? What kind of dragon has only one wing? I'll never be able to fly again."

"It's my fault mama, I should have run away when you said so earlier. Then you wouldn't have been hurt because of me."

"You have nothing to apologize for, you stood to protect me when I was injured. I am so proud." Half-Dragon Mother smiled as she looked toward her daughter.

"Indeed, you showed true courage in that moment." Lizard Priest too smiled then realized that he was till holding Half-Dragon Mother's hands. "Oh I'm sorry, I…I did not mean to…"

"It's quite alright, I did not mind. You came and saved me and my daughter." Half-Dragon Mother smiled as she reached up and gently stroked the left side of Lizard Priest's face. "You all came to save us even though you knew nothing about us. Thank you."

"I'm sorry, I forgot to say thank you too." Half-Dragon Daughter bowed her head toward the party. "I had no idea there were so many nice people out there."

"Oh yes, what about the other one, the armored human?" Half-Dragon Mother looked around but still did not see any sign human.

"I wouldn't worry about Beardcutter. He's just making sure everything has been taken care of."

"Rest assured, Milord Goblin Slayer will be by in a short amount of time."

After a few more minutes, High Elf Archer, having removed the strips of cloth long ago, caught sight of a figure slowly approaching. A smile crossed her face and the other turned to see the figure emerging from the shadow and they too smiled.

"Orcbo…"

Goblin Slayer emerged from the woods drenched in blood, so much so that part of it was dripping off his armor, the five at the camp were shocked by this as the figure drew nearer. Goblin Slayer continued to walk closer pausing only when he was close enough that his voice would be heard. He looked down at his blood stained gloves, this last thing remembered was looking at the man who tried to attack the girl then everything had gone black and when he finally came to his senses he was drenched in blood and the body before him was so mangled it would have been hard for someone to even guess the race of the individual.

"It had to be done beloved, he would have hurt others and you stopped that."

"It, it is done."

His voice was mechanical, yet his comrades could sense it was strained as if it was something difficult for him to say. Goblin Slayer turned his head toward the side to glance at the two half-dragons, the sight of this man in armor scared the little girl though she remembered he came to save her and her mother earlier so surely, he wasn't evil.

"He won't be able to hurt either of you ever again."

The small response caught both by surprise, this human had come to save them and taken care of the one who had hurt them. Despite the seeing him covered in blood, both gratefully bowed their heads toward him to which he nodded before walking forward.

"Wh, where are you going Beardcutter?" Dwarf Shaman had not seen Goblin Slayer cat in this manner since he was attacked by the horde in the north.

"Home. I need to report on the nests we destroyed." Goblin Slayer paused as he looked back toward the others. "Thank you for your help. I should also check in on my friend on the farm and the rest of our comrades."

It was a slight comment but with those few words the rest of his party was happy to hear him speak of wanting to return home to check on the others. Perhaps what had transpired for these two had been hit closer to home for Goblin Slayer and now wanted to check and make sure the others were well.

"Now that sounds more like the old Orcbolg, wait up!"

"Right behind you Long-Ears!" Dwarf Shaman jogged to catch up to the two of them. "We really should get you cleaned up Beardcutter."

"Is this a problem?"

"You drenched in blood, you'll end up giving that poor girl nightmares."

"Is that so? Very well then."

Lizard Priest smiled as the banter between his comrades sounded more natural and even Wolf allowed the little one to ride upon her as her ran to catch up with the others. Lizard Priest then felt something squeeze his hand and looked down to see Half-Dragon Mother smiling back at him.

"Thank you again, for everything. If it is alright, I would very much like to continue traveling with you."

"Of course, I did promise you and your little one cheese when we got back to town."

"I would love to try this cheese with you."

Lizard Priest closed his eyes and smiled when he felt something new, he opened his eyes wide to see Half-Dragon Mother tiptoe to gently kiss him upon the left side of his face. He was stunned as reddish hue crossed his face and he placed his left hand upon the left side of his face. He then felt someone grab his right hand and looked down to see half-dragon Mother smiled as she motioned for him to follow her.

"We better hurry or we'll be left behind."

"O, Of course…you are quite correct."

Author's Note: I at first was going with a YU-NO idea in mind for Half-Dragon Mother and Half-Dragon Daughter, minus the cannibalism, but we've already gone through enough depressing stuff. Instead I wat to keep both around and have our characters go into their roles, Dwarf Shaman as a Grandpa, High Elf Archer and the other girls as bigger sisters for Half-Dragon Daughter (even if she's 2000 years old I doubt our archer would like to be called grandma), Lizard Priest as a doting father, and Goblin Slayer to become to protective big brother. We are also shown some hints of what's to come in future acrs of this story

The next chapter will finally have Goblin Slayer received the parcel that was left for him by his sister and allow for some more interactions between our Half-Dragons and the rest of the guild mates.

A guest pointed out that this story doesn't have much to do with "howls" or "vengeance" and he/she is right. I probably should have started a second story right after the Beast Master Arc, but was worried those who had read the first part would have been lost if I just titled every different BIG Arc as a different story. I'll go back and update the synopsis of this story, but I'm going to go ahead and keep all my chapters under the Howl of Vengeance title, I've come this far so why stop now.