"That is quite the number of goblins to deal with Milord Goblin Slayer."

The party came upon a large opening that gave way to an enormous chamber, within that chamber they could see what they would have to deal with. More than fifty goblins cackled with weapons in hand, all eyes on their leader at the front, guarded on either side by hobgoblins. The shaman continued to speak, eliciting a roar of delight from the small army.

We will slaughter the humans in their village! Goblin Shaman raised his staff toward the ceiling showing his superiority over the others. Feed upon their animals! Feed the entrails of the men to their women and children! Use the children for target practice and take the women for our pleasure!

The goblins cheered and raised their weapons as they danced in place at the thought of the coming attack.

We must punish those humans for sending their adventurers after us. They will know how superior we are when he attack tonight.

"Gods above, this alone would be more than enough to lay waste to the village. No wonder that first party had been so easily defeated."

Dwarf Shaman's comment was very sound, clad in armor and bearing weapons both goblin-made and stolen from other sources, this was a force that no rookie party could have dealt with. High Elf Archer looked over the horde in front of them and it was then she saw movement other than the goblins toward the left of the cave.

"There on the side of the hobgoblin."

The party looked over and saw six nude females slumped to the floor and shackled to the wall. From where they were, it was unclear if all the captives were alive, but once the horde had been dealt with, they could at least return the bodies.

"How should we proceed Goblin Slayer? Should I cast Holy Light?"

"The shaman must die first."

"I can get a clean shot from here very easily." High Elf Archer smiled as she readied her arrow.

"Don't be too hasty there Long-Ears, perhaps we can use the same tactic we used with the nest on our first goblin quest."

"Do it."

Dwarf Shaman smiled before taking his jug of fire wine in readiness to use Stupor, but before he could spit his mist an arrow struck his right leg. The horde turned and each snarled and hissed as they saw the party of adventurers and charged forward to attack. The group failed to see the three goblin archers that were perched above goblin shaman, they were tasked with killing any goblins that argued with shaman (promised first privilege with the female captives.)

"Sir Mage!" Lizard Priest shouted as he picked up his fallen companion.

"Damn you little bastards!" Dwarf Shaman grunted as he held his sore leg contemplating whether to pull the arrow out or not.

"Fall back!"

Lizard Priest, still carrying Dwarf Shaman, and Priestess were the first to run, then followed by High Elf Archer as she managed to let loose an arrow, unfortunately killing one of the normal goblins instead of the shaman. Goblin Slayer brought up the rear, knowing that he needed to by some time in order for them to get to a more defendable position, he reached into his pouch and drew out a small egg full of crushed pepper and threw it back behind him. The cry from the goblins and sound of them falling over each other was reassuring as the group continued through the cave. The group soon reached the spot where they had assisted the dire wolf, but found the wolf and the goblin corpses gone.

"Where is the wolf?"

"That's the least of our problems, what do you want to do now Orcbolg?"

"We will defend from this location, if need be we can fall back further, but we need to reduce their numbers. Create a warrior, with him injured we'll need assistance."

"Understood." Lizard Priest carefully set his friend down before reaching for his catalysts. "How are you?"

"I've been better." Dwarf Shaman grunted as he got himself into a sitting position before looking at the Elf. "I bet you're just thrilled that I was finally hit with an arrow?"

"I'd only be happy if it was one of mine. If it's any consolation, I know from experience that it hurts like hell."

"I'm not out of this fight yet, just give me a healing potion, no need to waste a spell on this."

With a final grunt, Dwarf Shaman ripped the arrow from his leg before tossing it to the side, he then graciously took the heal potion from Priestess and downed it in one gulp. In the meantime, Lizard Priest threw down his catalysts then pressed his hands together to begin his chant.

"O horns and claws of our father, Iguanodon, thy four limbs, become two legs to walk upon the earth."

As he finished the last of his chant, a skeletal warrior emerged from a blast of white light and stood ready to fight. The sounds of the goblins drew closer, but now the party was better prepared to meet their opponents, or at least they believed they were.

"Be ready to use Holy Light!"

"Of cour…"

A bolt of lightning flew past the party and hit wall behind them, with an explosion sent debris flying knocking all party members to the ground. The party struggle to get back up, the sound of the explosion still ringing in their ears, Goblin Slayer was the first to see the shaman walk toward them followed by the hobgoblins and the horde. The Dragontooth Warrior was the first to rise and quickly collected Priestess and High Elf Archer while the others pushed themselves up.

The goblins rushed in, quickly surrounding the still stunned Goblin Slayer and Lizard Priest, while Dwarf Shaman struggled to get back to his feet. The goblin shaman laughed as he motioned for the goblins to continue their attack, suddenly a howl pierced the battlefield. The all eyes looked upward to see the dire wolf snarling at them before leaping down…down at the goblin shaman. With wide eyes, goblin shaman was struck by the wolf, the weight of it crushing its rib cage as it was pushed to the ground. The shaman coughed up some blood, it would be the last thing it would ever do, as the wolf open it jaws and bit down upon the goblin's head crushing its skull in one powerful bite. The goblins looked on with shock as the wolf shook the shaman's body as if it were an old rag; their confusion was all the advantage Goblin Slayer's party needed to turn things around.

"Come out, you gnomes, it's time to work, now don't you dare your duty shirk – a bit of dust may cause no shock, but a thousand make a lovely rock…Stone Blast!"

"O Earth Mother, abounding in mercy, grant your sacred light to we who are lost in darkness…Holy Light!"

The light blinded the goblins and the blast of rocks killed several of the goblins allowing the rest of the party to launch their attack. Goblin Slayer, Lizard Priest, and the Dragontooth Warrior hacked and slashed at the goblin bodies while High Elf Archer fired arrow after arrow at the horde. The dire wolf tossed aside the shaman's body before snarling at the closest hobgoblin. The hob took as step back as it saw the blood stained teeth from the wolf, instinctively the hob only considered saving itself, it turned and only managed to take a few steps before the wolf once again pounced on its prey's back. The weight of the wolf brought the hob crashing down, easily exposing its neck which the wolf eagerly bit into. The hob tried to scream but chunk after chunk of its flesh was torn out and devoured by the dire wolf.

"That's the last of them Orcbolg."

High Elf Archer sighed as she wiped the sweat from her brow, she looked over to find Dwarf Shaman who happily helped himself to his fire wine.

"I thought you were in pain."

"That's what the fire wine is for Long-Ears."

Priestess carefully wrapped up his leg, Dwarf Shaman continuing to claim a healing spell would be wasted on him, so instead he would help himself to his fire wine. Once finished, she joined Lizard Priest so they could finish their prayers, she then saw Goblin Slayer finished checking the bodies to make sure none were still alive.

"That makes seventy-seven."

"I must admit Milord Goblin Slayer, I was worried when the spell from the shaman knocked us down. I'm grateful to the assistance of our friend here."

The party turned to find the dire wolf still feeding on the hobgoblin; the wolf finished licking its chops then turned to face the others. The wolf not showing any signs of aggression slowly walked toward the party, only pausing once it was in front of Goblin Slayer. Goblin Slayer looked down at the wolf with head slightly turned, though there wasn't too much a difference between the heights, then calmly patted the head of the massive creature.

"You did well."

Goblin Slayer's friends looked on with wide eyes at the sight of Goblin Slayer petting massive wolf before returning his attention back to them.

"What?"

"Well look at you Orcbolg, making new friends."

"Before we start celebrating, we need to get back to that final chamber and tend to the captives Lady Ranger."

The party carefully moved around the corpses to head back to the large chamber, and were surprised to find the wolf still following them, it seemed to make it a point to stay close to Priestess and High Elf Archer.

"Well aren't you friendly." High Elf Archer smiled as she petted the side of the wolf, in her experience, she had never gotten this close to a wolf before.

"It seems like he's trying to keep us safe."

"Is that so?"

"It would make sense seeing how Lady Ranger and our young Priestess here did tend to his wounds and bindings earlier."

"That, or this big boy has a thing for girls."

"You keep quiet you dirty old man." High Elf Archer's ears flapped slightly as he face had a slight red tint to it.

Upon reaching the chamber, the party found that two of the captives were already dead, a look of exhaustion and depression froze upon their face. The others were alive, including rhea scout from the previous party, but they too bore the same expressions upon their faces. The girls were quickly released from their bonds, using the rain ponchos in the kits they covered the girls up and readied to get them out of the filthy cave.

"Are you able to carry a person?"

Goblin Slayer's question was addressed to the dire wolf who continued to follow them. The wolf looked back at the armored man then gave a small bark.

"I see."

"Goblin Slayers sir, are you able to understand this creature?"

"No. I'm just gathering information for the task at hand."

The dire wolf stood still as the bodies of the dead women were placed along its back. The Dragontooth Warrior carried two of the hostages, one in its arms and the other strapped to its back, Lizard Priest and Goblin Slayer each carried to other girls. With their work finished, it was time to report back to the village and deliver the girls.

"Your comrades did not make it."

The girl along his back barely winced her upon hearing the news, Priestess and High Elf Archer both sighed in frustration upon seeing and hearing him speak.

"Goblin Slayer! I told you before you need to be more tactful when you are speaking with others."

"It's the truth."

"Truth or not you really need to learn how to better speak to people Orcbolg."

"Is that so?"

"Yes it is Orcbolg! As a fellow silver rank you need to act a little differently."

"Hrm."

"She's right Goblin Slayer, besides if Guild Girl was to hear about this she would be very upset, so upset she may not give you any more goblins."

"Erk…that would be troublesome…I will try to talk differently for next time."

The party smiled upon hearing his remarks as they continued out of the cave, this adventure had been quite interesting, but they still needed to deliver the captives back to the village. Late in the afternoon, Goblin Slayer and his party arrived at the entrance to the village. Two young men patrolling by the entrance were surprised to find the party walk toward them with what they believed were the captives, but even more surprising was the large wolf walking with them.

"Look out! Wolf!"

The party stopped as they watched the two men point their pitchforks at them as menacingly as possible. The dire wolf began to growl as it looked at the humans, taking a step forward to assert its dominance. It then felt a gloved hand gently patting the side of its neck, it looked to the right and saw the High Elf Archer smiling at him. The wolf stopped its growling and stood in place with its eyes staring at the two men ahead of him and the others.

"I, I know this will be hard to believe, but the wolf is not dangerous." Priestess smiled then bowed as if to apologize for bringing the wolf here.

"The wolf is dangerous."

"Goblin Slayer, you're not helping!"

"It is a dire wolf." Goblin Slayer's voice remained emotionless as he continued forward. "This wolf helped kill the goblins."

"It…it did?"

"Yes. Here are the captives."

The two men quickly put away their tools and called for assistance from the others to get the women. The wolf tensed up as the people drew closer, but found Goblin Slayer placing a hand along its back, it would not attack, but would not drop its guard.

"Thank you for all your assistance."

"All the goblins have been destroyed."

"Uh…thank you once again, we'll be sure to treat the injured adventurer as well."

With the formalities out of the way, the party decided it was time to return back to home. Once away from the village and back toward the forest, the dire wolf paused and watched as the rest of the individuals continued on. Goblin Slayer and the others stopped when they realized that the wolf was no longer following them and turned to see the wolf staring back at them. The party wanted to call out to him, he had assisted them on this quest, easily killing the shaman and one of the hobs, but they also had to remember that this was not some abandoned dog they were picking up.

"I guess this is goodbye then." Priestess frowned at the thought they would be parting ways.

"I will make sure to have a better opinion of wolves from here out."

"For once, I agree with you Long-Ears."

"Go in peace noble beast."

Goblin Slayer looked at the wolf allowing his and the wolf's eyes to meet once again; the rest of his party looked to him, wondering what was going through his mind…other than goblins of course.

"Are you coming?"

All eyes were wide as they heard what Goblin Slayer had just asked, and grew even wider when the wolf actually came over toward Goblin Slayer and his friends. Goblin Slayer turned and continued on with the dire wolf by his side, the others took in the sight of the peculiar bond they had seen, then quickly caught up with them.

"Do you truly plan on keeping this beast as some sort of pet Beardcutter?"

"He may be useful in killing goblins."

"So he'll be like the canary then? By the way, did you ever give that bird a name Orcbolg?"

"Canary."

"You can't be serious?"

"Then what about this one here Goblin Slayer sir?"

"Wolf."

"Orcbolg….for goodness….surely you can be a little creative?"

"It's a wolf. Wolf will do."

Lizard Priest and Dwarf Shaman laughed, the girls smiled while shaking their heads, yet again they find themselves with a new and unusual companion. Goblin Slayer continued on with his bold stride, but beside him now was not just Priestess, but Wolf as well. High Elf Archer could not help but smile as the thought of how much fun they would have with this new companion on their party and the reactions the others would have when they met Wolf.

"I can't wait."

"Did you say something Lady Ranger?"

"Nothing important."