The young receptionist at the Guild finished with the report from the previous adventurer, all the while smiling away as she had been told to do, yet it was not a true smile…that was reserved for another adventurer. She sat at her station in her immaculate outfit with her light brown hair woven into a braid looking over the leftover quests that had not been chosen.
"Two troll quests, one asking to deal with a group of bandits, no goblins quests today…at least not any that are still free." Guild Girl's face changed to one of concern as she looked over to her left at the one quest she had assigned earlier.
Just then, the jingle of the bell above the door sounded, and one quick look brought a smile to her face, to the point she appeared to be glowing. In walked an oddly dressed man with a bold confident stride, the Goblin Slayer. To those who were new, there was a look of shock, wondering if a piece of cursed armor or one of the undead had entered their establishment.
"Good morning Goblin Slayer."
"Any goblins?"
"Just this one. An earlier group took the quest and headed out."
Goblin Slayer took the paper and examined the specifics of the job. Livestock and women had been taken, at least ten goblins had been seen, a cave had been discovered close to the village, and to be cautious of local wildlife.
"What was the party like?
"One fighter obsidian, a monk and scout both porcelain. I did caution them to possibly find another member to strengthen their group, but they declined."
"I see." Goblin Slayer handed her back the paper about the quest.
"The party itself is not that well balanced, even with an obsidian rank. For that many goblins to be seen, the nest must be even larger."
"Well if isn't Beardcutter."
Goblin Slayer and Guild Girl turned to see the rest of Goblin Slayer's party descending the stairs as they made their way toward their oddly dressed leader.
"So what brings you here Orcbolg?"
"It's time to hunt some goblins."
"Oh, so you'll be going after them Goblin Slayer?" A smile crossed Guild Girl's face showing a sign of comfort knowing that he would be on the quest.
"Yes. If the nest is as large as I think, then the village will be in danger. One more thing…what wildlife do people need to be careful of?"
Guild Girl's smile changed to a frown as she recalled what the villager had told her and the thought of what the adventurers had described the night they defended the farm.
"Wolves."
xxxx
"Are they doing this just for their own amusement?" Priestess found herself pitying the poor creature as the goblins struck the dire wolf once again.
"They're trying to break him." Even watching the sight, Goblin Slayer's voice was without emotion. "They'll be looking to ride him into battle."
"Like hell they will." Elven Archer let loose an arrow toward the trio below.
The arrow struck the closest goblin in the right side of his head with enough force that the small body actually flew about a foot toward its left. At the same time the elf fired her arrow, Goblin Slayer and Lizard Priest leapt down toward the landing and rushed in with blades drawn. The other two goblins and the dire wolf immediately turned their attention toward the direction the arrow came from and saw the two warriors charging forward.
The goblins were too slow to react and were easily slaughtered. Lizard Priest brought his blade in a downward motion, cutting the first goblin into two diagonal pieces. Goblin Slayer rushed in and struck the goblin with back of his shield, breaking its twisted nose and knocking it to the ground. Before the goblin could even register the pain from it the first hit, Goblin Slayer plunged its sword into the back of its head before giving it a violent twist.
The wolf had stopped its growling and snarling the moment the first goblin had been killed as it cautiously watched the two in front of it. It then turned its head as it heard the sound of the more people coming to join the two in front of him. The wolf couldn't understand the all the sounds coming from their mouths, but the moment all eyes were focused on him, it immediately tensed and readied to fight.
"Did you see that? This is the skill that only the elves can produce!"
"So impressive…one arrow to kill one goblin." The evident sarcasm in Dwarf Shaman's voice was not lost on anyone.
"I didn't see you do anything in this last battle."
"Waste a spell on a single goblin? Come now Long-ears, someone as old and wise as you claim to be would know better than that."
"Eighteen…Nineteen…Twenty." Goblin Slayer calmly cleaned his blade with the goblin's loincloth before inspecting the blade.
"Now then Milord Goblin Slayer, what should we do with this one?"
Goblin Slayer and the others turned their attention back to the dire wolf who barked and growled at them. High Elf Archer was cautious as she readied another arrow, ready to put the wolf down before it could attack any of them. Priestess once again felt pity for the creature in front of her, but knew full well that this was a dangerous wolf. Goblin Slayer slowly walked toward the wolf, sword still in hand. Despite being shackled to the ground, the wolf still snarled, baring its teeth at the armored warrior. Both looked at one another with what looked like glowing eyes in the darkness.
"Goblin Slayer, sir?"
Goblin Slayer raised his sword and brought it down, cutting the rusted metal chain around its right front paw. The wolf flinched at the sound, expecting the human to attack him as others had done before, but stopped its growling when it realized the chain around its leg broken and it was able to move more freely. Goblin Slayer purposely moved around the wolf repeating the same motion until all chains were cut, the manacles still remained, but at least the wolf was able to move.
"Orcbolg! What are you doing?"
"Breaking the chains." Goblin Slayer calmly replied as he sheathed his sword before joining his party.
The dire wolf looked back at the group, and instinctively growled as it took a shaky step toward them. The Lizard Priest, Elf Archer, and Dwarf Shaman all readied themselves, Priestess tightly griped her sounding staff while trying to keep herself from moving back, only Goblin Slayer did not act.
"Let us see what he will do."
The dire wolf took another step before fatigue finally set in, the wolf suddenly collapsed on its side struggling to keep its eyes open. Blood ran from its wounds from where it had been beaten, stabbed and cut by the goblins upon its return to the cave.
It had gone hunting for its family, bringing back a young doe body in its massive jaws. Upon entering the cave, the stench of the goblins was present all around him and there close by the entrance was a goblin holding something in its filthy hands. It quickly lunged for the goblin, still holding the corpse of its pup, and tore into its throat with sheer ferocity. Before it could continue though, it was struck by a bolt of lightning, as it was knocked to the ground it saw a goblin with an odd stick with a red stone on it pointing at him, the moment he fell, the other goblins descended upon him.
For several days, he endured the torture of the goblins all the while they killed and devoured him mate and pups in front of him. He witnessed the humans who had entered the cave, but were ultimately defeated and consumed by the monsters. Now, that it had its freedom once again, it could only lay there waiting to die from its wounds.
"Goblin Slayer sir, may I?"
"Go ahead." Goblin Slayer gave a slight nod.
Priestess immediately rushed to the downed creature, the wolf looked at the small human, but was too tired to even growl. Priestess knelt down by the wolf and placed her tiny hand upon the large wolf.
"O Earth Mother, abounding in mercy, lay your revered hand upon this child…"
A bright light surrounded the wolf, the cuts along its body miraculously began to close themselves.
"You truly are a strange one Orcbolg." Elf Archer put away her weapons and moved toward the wolf as well. "Let's do something about those manacles."
The wolf opened its eyes, the pain was no longer present, and even though it was still tired, it indeed felt better than it had been in the last few days. It looked around and found the other female adventurer carefully removing the manacles from each limb. Once finished, both girls returned to their party before turning their attention back to the wolf. The wolf raised it head to examine itself, surprised to find his wounds healed and its limbs free from the confines. It turned toward them once again, not able to comprehend why they had aided him as it titled its head to the side inquisitively.
"I must say Milord Goblin Slayer, this is most unexpected."
"He should be able to recover now. Though I'm not sure if this is the wisest choice Beardcutter."
"Be that as it may, we need to continue on. There are still other goblins to deal with."
The party turned and readied to continue through the cave, when the dire wolf gave a small whine causing them to look back. The dire wolf attempted to stand but seemed to lack the strength to do so, once again it whined as it starred at the adventurers. It locked eyes with the Goblin Slayer, attempting to discern what the human was thinking and in attempt to say, it could still fight.
"You should rest."
The dire wolf heard the sounds, it could not understand the words itself, but could recognize the tone as being calm. With a final whine it placed its head down and watched as the party moved onward through the darkened cave. Once it was able to, it would go after the other goblins; if possible, it would return the favor and help those who helped him, but the goblins needed to pay for what they had done…the goblins needed to die!