Chapter 2: No Longer Unheard

The rays of the morning sun shining through her window woke up Cow Girl. After stretching and getting her bra and panties on, she walked over to the larger window in her bedroom and unlocked it, moving the small doors out of the way. The warm breeze, summer smells of early summer, and the beautiful countryside her farm was built on greeted her.

Cow Girl's attention was quickly drawn to the armored man that was kneeling by the fence opposite her window, checking it over for damage and anything out of the ordinary.

"Hey there! Morning!" she called out to him. "I see you're up early again."

"Yeah," Goblin Slayer replied without looking up.

"The weather feels nice, today. The sun feels great on my skin," she commented.

"Yeah."

Cow Girl decided to ask about the other person on the farm. "Do you know if my uncle is awake already?"

"I don't know," Goblin Slayer said. He usually woke up before anyone else to get his armor and gear together before checking the farm's perimeter. Cow Girl's Uncle would sometimes be up when Slayer got started, but not always. Not that it mattered to him.

"Oh well. If he isn't around by now, then I'm sure he will be pretty soon," Cow Girl said.

"S'pose so," Goblin Slayer agreed in his own way.

Cow Girl knew that she needed to get the day started. "You must be hungry. I'll get started on breakfast, and we can eat together," she suggested.

"Sounds good," Goblin Slayer said with a hint of positivity as he got up and went to check another part of the fence.

The same thing has happened every day for the past five years since Goblin Slayer started living on the farm with his childhood friend and her uncle. He'd explained to her how goblins are mainly active at night and return to their nests in the morning. Dawn was the best time to check the land for footprints, scout markers, and any other disturbances caused by goblins scouting an area they planned to attack. Any tracks that were found meant that they'd have to be extra careful for a while, and Cow Girl couldn't leave the property until Goblin Slayer was sure it was safe.

Goblin Slayer would always check the fence around the house and barn for any damaged or loose part as well, and he'd always fix them himself. While the fence wouldn't likely do much against a goblin attack, it was better to have it in good condition than falling apart.

Cow Girl was very grateful for what he did, keeping their farm and everyone in it safe.

'Our valiant guardian' she'd always considered him.

"And here you go!" Cow Girl said as she placed down three bowls of soup on the table. One for her, one for Goblin Slayer, and one for her uncle. She sat down with them as they began their breakfast.

"Smells good as usual. Thank you," her uncle said.

"Eat it while it's still hot!" she encouraged.

Her uncle raised his spoon to his mouth but paused as Goblin Slayer ate first.

"Taste good?" Cow Girl asked. "I hope you like it."

"Yeah," Goblin Slayer answered truthfully.

Cow Girl's Uncle nodded before sipping his soup. He was slightly startled when Goblin Slayer placed down a clunking pouch on the table. He looked at it and then Goblin Slayer.

"Rent money for this month," he answered.

Uncle nodded again before picking up the pouch, weighing more than he thought it would, and started to undo the string keeping it closed. "It's heavy this month. Being an adventurer must be pretty lucrative." He held up a gold coin, one of many from the bag. 'With this much money, he could be staying in a royal suite somewhere…'

"Sometimes," Goblin Slayer said. "I've had a lot of work lately."

That explained the extra coin.

"Apparently," Uncle said as he placed the coin back into the bag and sealing it. "Right, so, will you be going back out again today?"

Goblin Slayer confirmed Uncle's question. "I'm visiting the Guild. They've got plenty of work."

"Not surprised. Well, don't push yourself too hard."

"I won't."

Setting down her cup of milk, Cow Girl spoke up. "I've got some deliveries to make at the Guild. How about we go together?"

"If you'd like," Goblin Slayer said as he finished the last of his bread roll.

Uncle went to stand. "In that case, I'll go get the wagon ready for you."

Cow Girl stood up first and gathered up everyone's empty bowls and plates. "Don't worry about it, Uncle. I know how overprotective you can be. I'll be fine! I'm a lot stronger than I look, you know!"

Cow Girl and Goblin Slayer walked down the road leading to Frontier Town. She pushed the wagon, heavy with delivery orders, herself while Goblin Slayer stared ahead. He eventually turned his head to her and asked, "Do you need help?"

"I'm fine," she denied. "It's not that hard."

"Okay."

"Thank you, though."

"It's nothing."

They continued on for a bit more. "So," Cow Girl hesitantly asked," how have things been lately? You've been busy, going out more. Much more."

"Yeah. Too many goblins; an unusual amount," Goblin Slayer explained shortly.

"And then there's that friend of yours. Dovah-something, was it?"

"Dovahkiin," he reminded her. "He's been taking goblin quests as well."

"Well, having lots of work is a good thing; you both make more coin," Cow Girl said, her optimism shining in her words.

She deflated a bit when Goblin Slayer said, "No. It's bad."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"It's better when there are no goblins," he told her. Goblin Slayer was more concerned with the goblins' numbers than the money he'd been making. He'd been like that since he first started out as an adventurer over five years ago.

"… Right. Of course," Cow Girl said as they approached town.

They walked through the streets to the Guild building. The two of them went to the side of the structure where the kitchen was located, and Cow Girl brought the cart to the delivery area. A man in chef clothes came out and beckoned them over.

"I'm just gonna drop off the delivery, OK?" Cow Girl said over her shoulder to Goblin Slayer.

He hummed in acknowledgment as he leaned against the wall waiting for her to finish.

Cow Girl and the chef went over the order list as a few kitchen hands grabbed some of the things out of the cart and carried them inside. Through the open door and the kitchen, they could see the lobby where a village mayor was at the reception desk. Judging by how he was acting and shouting, he was beyond calming down.

"Help us! Yeh gotta help us!" he pleaded with his hands clasped together. "Please, yeh just gotta! Them gubbins done come down t' our village!"

Guild Girl remained professional and calm despite the panicking man speaking to her. "Filing a request? Please fill out this form, sir." She handed him a request form.

Unfortunately, the mayor couldn't keep his hands still and accidentally crumpled up the form. "They took our poor li'l beasts! 'N if this goes on, gods know what'll happen to our cows! And they'll burn our fields—!"

"It's all right, sir," Guild Girl said as she grabbed another form. "Here, have a clean form. Please take your time."

The mayor picked up a nearby quill and filled out the form. He shakily handed it over and pulled out a pouch. "'Ere yeh are, ma'am!"

Guild Girl looked over the form for a minute. All the required information was there, and now she just needed one more thing. "It looks like your paperwork is in order. Do you have the reward with y—?"

"S-Say—? Is it true that the gubbins steal a girl sometimes 'n'… 'n' yeh know…?"

Guild Girl answered, much to the mayor's horror, "There are cases where that has happened, sir."

He quickly lifted up the pouch and dropped it on the table with a THUNK! "Please! Yeh gotta help us! We ain't even got young ladies for 'em to steal! I've got all the money yeh want! The whole village went in together!"

Guild Girl dumped out the contents of the bag. Copper and the occasional silver coins covered her area of the desk. She quickly counted out the money, coming to about 10 gold coins worth. It was enough to cover the Guild fees and still have some left over, but the village would be lucky to get a couple of rookies for that low of a reward for such risk.

Nevertheless, she put the money back into the bag and smiled at the man. "All right, I've confirmed the amount. You're all set here."

"Really?!"

"Yes, sir. So, rest assured that an adventurer or a team will come out to your village to take care of the problem soon."

The man gave his thanks as he headed for the double doors. He bowed to Guild Girl before turning around and leaving. Guild Girl waved to him until he shut the door, and she was out of his sight. She plopped back down onto her seat and rested her head face-down on her crossed arms with a heavy sigh.

Her coworker, Inspector, sat nearby as she filled out various forms in front of her. She had paused to watch Guild Girl handle the mayor and pointed out how that was the third goblin quest they'd gotten that day.

"What's the pay?" she asked, though she already had an idea.

Guild Girl turned her head to look at Inspector with a slight "What do you think?" look. There was more sadness than rudeness in her expression.

Inspector sighed and went back to her duties. "Welp. Hope they don't want someone with experience 'cause that's pretty pathetic."

It was an unfortunate system. Since goblin quests were almost always being sent in by farming villages, the rewards were rarely more than the minimum required to put them in in the first place. This meant that the only people who really took them were the Porcelains that felt cramped caves were better than wading through the sewers to gather ears from the giant rats within. Sure, there was Goblin Slayer and the occasional experienced team who'd take them out of a vendetta or bigger hatred of goblins than the average adventurer, but Goblin Slayer was only one person—two if you count Priestess—and the experienced teams were few and far between.

The government understandably put more effort against the growing demon hordes and other, more powerful monsters springing up around the country, but they refused to send even one detachment to help with the growing numbers of goblins. They never attacked major towns or supply routes, and thus the government merely saw them as a hazard of expansion into the Frontier. This left them to hire Porcelain teams, many of whom may have scared off a single goblin wanderer—killing one at best—before they signed up, to take the quests. On average, roughly three teams were required to clear out a single nest, and the first one was almost always killed off while the second would only occasionally come back with all members intact.

How Goblin Slayer had been able to do it by himself for over half a decade before working with Priestess, who didn't have much straight-forward combat ability—if any—was puzzling.

Speaking of Goblin Slayer, Guild Girl brightened a bit. "No, he'll still take it. Money's not an issue to him."

Inspector looked over to her coworker. She knew who she was talking about; her quiet, armored crush that only ever took on goblin quests. She didn't think of it much, honestly, though she did appreciate him taking the quests that were always cutting down rookie teams. Not that she'd admit it.

Guild Girl straightened up when the Guild's doors opened and rung the overhead bell. She was hoping she'd see Goblin Slayer again and maybe chat, even just a little bit, before he left with his new teammate. Surprisingly, he'd be arriving a bit later than he normally did, but it was probably nothing to worry about.

"My dear desk-bound damsel! I have defeated some brigands!" Spearman, AKA "The Frontier's Strongest", AKA one of Guild Girl's more vocal (and in her own personal opinion, annoying) would-be suitors.

Every time he returned from a quest, he'd head straight to her area of the reception desk and go on and on about his feats and adventures he'd had since they (read: he) last talked. Ever since he and Witch became an official team five years ago, helped by a compliment on his skill at the time to push him to work with Witch, he'd taken to her and thought she had an interest in him and all the accomplishments he loved to brag about to the rest of the Guild. Silver ranks were known for it, sure, but he seemed to be the hammiest of them all regarding it.

His magic-using partner in question, who held a flame for the spear-wielding veteran but could never spit it out, simply winked and mouthed an apology for his behavior.

The two of them walked up to the desk, and Spearman leaned on it as he began his tale. "Let me tell you! It wasn't easy! There they were, encamped right on the main road! There must have been at least 20 men, and I took on all of them!"

"Oh my, that sounds very tiring," Guild Girl said, mixing professionalism with passive-aggressiveness to show her disinterest. "Maybe you should try a stamina potion to recover from any fatigue." She pulled out a glass bottle with a green liquid from behind the counter.

"One please!" Spearman said as he handed her a few coins.

Guild Girl handed over the potion. "Here you are. Thank you for shopping with us!" Her use of the same professional attitude for almost any other adventurer paid off. She looked with slight amusement as Spearman plopped down on the desk, groaning as his crush gave off the same aura as always.

"Are you going to be much longer, sir?"

Spearman looked over his shoulder, and he quickly turned around to see the black-armored figure standing behind him. "Huh…?" He said as the newcomer, slightly taller than him, stared back with the glowing red orbs on his helmet.

Guild Girl looked slightly happier at someone other than Spearman to focus on. "Hello, Mr. Dovahkiin. How are you? Do you have new business with the Guild?"

Dovahkiin? Spearman heard some talk about someone with a weird name clad in some of the evilest-looking armor most people had seen. He hadn't been around the Guild long enough recently to come across anyone fitting the description, but today was the day this "Dovahkiin" guy showed up without him knowing beforehand?

Dovahkiin held up a couple of folded documents. "Yes, ma'am. I've got the request paper from the village about their goblin problem signed by the chief, and my report on it; just need you to look them over and confirm it. Also, Fighter and Wizard were on their way here as well; they saw Goblin Slayer helping unload a delivery wagon and wanted to chat with him before they came in."

Spearman frowned when Guild Girl brightened up upon hearing mention of that goblin quest-exclusive weirdo. He must've hummed in disapproval a little louder than he intended since Dovahkiin turned back to him.

"May I?" he questioned, motioning to Guild Girl.

"… Yeah, whatever. I already made my report. Nothing else I needed." He turned and walked over to the seating area in the Guild building, Witch following.

Now free of her most-verbal suitor, Guild Girl took the papers from Dovahkiin and looked them over. The request sheet that had been posted on the board now had the signature of the chief, proof that Dovahkiin had spoken to them about the job, and the standard adventurer's report on the events that occurred while taking it. It was a small task; a village had a run-in with a couple of goblin scouts stealing a couple of their smaller livestock, and they'd requested someone to take care of them out of worry of a possible nest in the area. Thankfully, it seemed like a small nest that had only picked up a couple of wanderers at best and was unlikely to be causing major trouble for some time.

Nevertheless, Dovahkiin went through and cleared it out quickly while there was less than a dozen of the creatures before they started kidnapping women or directly attacking the village head-on.

"Everything is in order here, sir. Let me get you the reward." Guild Girl said as she placed the papers in their respective filing spots. She counted out the reward, about 12 gold pieces, and handed it over to Dovahkiin. "Again, sorry the pay isn't the greatest for these. All those organizations you're a part of back in your home country probably paid better, and you probably need it considering your equipment."

Dovahkiin simply waved his hand as he separated the coin into two separate piles with his other. "No need to apologize. I'm aware that goblins don't pay well, especially since the villages that put out the jobs don't have much themselves. Besides, I'm not taking the quests for the money; I do it so that those… animals don't cause more damage than they already have." He took on a darker tone of voice. "I saw what they did to those girls, to Warrior, when I arrived to the Frontier. I can't just stand by and let that happen to other people, at least not as many as if I just turned the other way…" He then dropped the dark demeanor and shrugged. "Plus, I've got plenty of money and valuables from back home, not to mention my equipment rarely needs any maintenance besides cleaning and the occasional sharpening; nothing to worry about anytime soon."

Guild Girl nodded with a smile. "It's good to see that you wish to improve the lives of the people here. On that note, have you found anything about your home in our library? What was it, Skyrim? Tamriel?"

Dovahkiin chuckled briefly. "Tamriel is the continent; Skyrim—my home before I got here—is one of the countries located in it. And I haven't seen anything about either one in any of the books I've looked through, but I haven't had the time to look through too many just yet."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Goblin Slayer mentioned the surplus of goblin quests you've been getting recently, and I've been helping him and Priestess to try and get the numbers down. Fighter and Wizard helped me on this last one, too."

Their conversation was put on hold by the lobby doors opening, and four people entering: Goblin Slayer, Fighter, Cow Girl, and Wizard.

"Speak of the Daedra and he will come and listen," Dovahkiin said as he moved to the side to allow more room for the others.

Guild Girl beamed at the arrival of her favorite adventurer. "Thank you so much for taking on that quest the other day! It was a huge help!"

"No problem," Goblin Slayer said in his usual stoicism.

"Oh, tell you what: I'll put the kettle on, and you can give me your full report over a cup!" Guild Girl suggested.

Cow Girl came up to the desk with a piece of paper. "Before you do, could I please get your signature on this delivery slip?"

Guild Girl took the offered paper and dipped her quill in ink. "Oh, certainly! Thanks for bringing everything!" She signed the slip and handed it back to Cow Girl.

Nearby, Spearman leaned against the wall eavesdropping on Guild Girl and the others. When she got excited about the arrival of that armored outcast, he sneered before fast walking to the seating area connected to the lobby. Witch followed behind him, quipping, "Aww… Is 'The Frontier's Strongest'… getting pouty?"

"Am not!" Spearman said to no avail.

As the two veterans walked by the tables crowding with adventurers of various ranks, they were watched by a particular two-person Porcelain team, Apprentice Cleric Warrior and Rookie Mage.

"Look at them!" Rookie Mage said.

"They're a couple of famous Silver ranks," Apprentice Cleric Warrior explained.

"She's so hot…" Rookie Mage whispered, earning a look from Apprentice Cleric Warrior. He ignored it and looked over to Goblin Slayer and the others at the desk. "Now look at him, with the tattered red thing on his helmet—talk about filthy! Even we have better gear, not to mention that new guy in that black armor!... Even if it is creepy."

"Hey, be nice!" Cleric Warrior scolded. "I bet he's new, too, just like we are!"

Their conversation had grown loud enough to make the now-seated Witch glance over to them. If only they knew…

'Woah! She's looking over here!' Rookie Mage thought to himself with a blush.

Unfortunately, the other nearest group's conversation was much less friendly. Clad in shiny, gold-plated amor with the markings of the Supreme God on the shoulder pads, stood Female Knight. A Silver-ranked veteran with hopes of becoming an official Paladin, she looked at Goblin Slayer with disgust. "Gods. To think he's Silver-ranked just like us…" She shook her head. "Can he even fight anything bigger than a goblin…? And the Guild's even had the nerve to classify him as a 'Specialist'! Ha! They'll give a Silver rank to anyone these days…"

Her teammate, the bulky, heavily armored, and fittingly named Heavy Warrior turned around on the bench he sat on. "Forget about him," he suggested. "He never wants anything to do with the rest of us, anyway. He's always around that evil-looking freak, too. What's his deal, anyway?"

Their conversation moved from Goblin Slayer to Dovahkiin as Guild Girl and Cow Girl looked on, matching dumbfounded expressions on their faces. They snapped out of them at the same time as well.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. How about a cup of tea before you go?" Guild Girl offered.

"Oh… sounds great!" Cow Girl accepted.

Guild Girl turned to Dovahkiin who'd just finished speaking to Wizard and Fighter. The two girls left the building to gather a few pieces of equipment before getting some rest.

"Would you like some, too, Dovahkiin?" she asked.

"Yes, please," he responded politely.

"…In other words, I am to goblins what goblins are to us." Goblin Slayer finished his speech to Guild Girl and Dovahkiin.

His two listeners stared blankly at him, glanced at each other, and then looked back at him. Each had their own response.

"By the Nine, Slayer…"

"Sheesh…"

Dovahkiin hadn't expected such a long, philosophical, and personal response to Guild Girl's question, least of all from Goblin Slayer. "Well…" he started. "At least you take pride in what you do… I think. Not to mention that you have a good reason to target those freaks."

Guild Girl, however, adopted her front desk smile. Unlike most other times, this one wasn't giving off a pleasant aura. "Now, that's all well and good, but… we're the ones who give you your quests. So, by your logic, what does that make us?"

Dovahkiin, Akatosh as his witness, swore that he saw Goblin Slayer sweat through his helmet as Guild Girl continued to speak.

"Are you comparing us to evil spirits? The Dark Gods, perhaps? Am I really that scary?" she asked. "Do I look like a horned monster to you?" she whispered that last part almost darkly.

Goblin Slayer was silent for a minute, until "… That's not what I meant."

"Well, that's what it sounded like!" Guild Girl said. She slammed her palm against the wooden desk for emphasis, gaining the attention of a couple of adventurers. "How can the Guild keep up its reputation with talk like that going around? Maybe I should stop offering you quests?"

Goblin Slayer's helmet was practically covered in condensation. "That would… be a problem…"

"Somebody has to do these quests, and you and Dovahkiin are the ones doing them!" Guild Girl's tone and attitude began to calm down. "You both should be proud of that, especially you, Goblin Slayer." She reached her hand out and gently held Goblin Slayer's adventurer tag in her fingers. "You're a Silver-ranked adventurer, remember?"

"She's right, Slayer." Dovahkiin said. "You're helping a lot of people with what you do; people that would slip through the cracks otherwise, and the rookies that would take on the goblins unprepared. Take solace in the lives you've indirectly saved, and I'm sure your sister is proud of what you do. You need to be the same."

"… Is that so?" Goblin Slayer said, no longer sounding a bit nervous.

"Damn right."

"H-Hello, sirs," Priestess said as she approached the two armored men. She turned her focus to Goblin Slayer in particular. "About what I was saying to you a few days ago: I still don't think it's a very good idea to use flammable liquids, especially if it's in a cave."

"Your thinking is flawed," Goblin Slayer noted.

"Yeah. I mean, caves are the best place for flammable liquids. Just ask all the draugr I've roasted with still-burning lanterns and oil spills." Dovahkiin said with a chuckle.

Draugr were the bodies of those from Dovahkiin's homeland that had been cursed with undeath for eternity due to their services to the dragons that ruled the lands centuries ago. Forced to remain active in the ancient tombs of Nords, they were some of the first creatures he'd faced upon his arrival to Skyrim. He'd explained some of the parts of his home in case they'd heard or read anything about it, but they hadn't been able to help much as of yet.

Goblin Slayer ignored Dovahkiin's comment. "What would you prefer: that we risk letting the goblins live?"

"Well, no, of course not, but think of the consequences. What if you caused an avalanche or a cave-in?"

"The goblins are a bigger problem."

Cow Girl looked on as Priestess and Goblin Slayer conversed. He'd mentioned to her in passing that he'd formed a party with someone a month ago, but she assumed it was with Dovahkiin. He never said it was with a girl, and she didn't think he would, either. It seemed like Dovahkiin was more of a "guest party member", or something similar.

He'd been taking a couple of quests with the two survivors of Priestess' former party, but he mostly stuck with taking them on alone like Goblin Slayer did for most of his career. He must've known what he's been doing since he's kept himself alive despite the dangers the goblins possessed; he even made Sapphire rank only a short time ago. Not bad for someone in a completely new country he wasn't used to yet.

Speaking of Dovahkiin, he waited for Goblin Slayer to finish quizzing Priestess on goblin tactics and countermeasures—with some input from himself—to ask Guild Girl, "Any goblin quests at the moment?"

Guild Girl smiled at his question. "Yes, we have three quests this morning." She pulled out the three sheets with the details of each quest. As she described each one, she set the respective quest paper out on the table. "There's a swarm in the western river village, and a small nest in the southern forest. Near that one is an old mountain fort that's been claimed by goblins. That one's the toughest of them all; it's a castle that's been fortified but was later abandoned."

"They've settled there?" Dovahkiin asked.

"Yes. And I'm afraid there's already been a few casualties. The younger sister of the person who requested help was kidnapped, and no one's heard from the first adventurer who went into the castle to find her."

"It's too late for them, but I can kill the goblins," Goblin Slayer stated.

"Wait, has anyone else taken that quest, or the one in the forest?" Dovahkiin asked.

Guild Girl shifted a few papers around before looking back up to him. "Yes, actually. A team of four Steel-ranks took the fort quest not too long ago. They passed on the other one, however."

"What about the river village?" Goblin Slayer asked the same question.

"A party of rookies are the only other ones that took goblin-slaying quests. They're headed to the river village."

"And their party?"

Guild Girl flipped to the party information. "One warrior, a wizard, and a priest. Each Porcelain-ranked." She looked at Goblin Slayer. "Like I said, they were all pretty new."

Goblin Slayer hummed in acknowledgment. "Not a bad balance."

Priestess, however, started to panic. "If it's the three I heard earlier, they're in way over their heads. Even my party had four members, and we would've been dead or worse if not for you and Dovahkiin!"

"Yes, I did try to explain that to them," Guild Girl solemnly admitted. She did the same for every rookie party that took on goblin quests, thinking that it'd be an easy couple of quest before they could rank up and take on more rewarding and fame-making work.

"They're going to die! We have to stop them from going there!" Priestess pleaded to Goblin Slayer.

He wasn't budging, however. "Do as you please. I'm going to destroy the mountain castle."

"You're going to abandon them?!" Priestess asked in disbelief.

"If you believe you can save that group, feel free to try."

They were stopped by Dovahkiin grabbing two of the quest papers. "No, you both try to take care of the rookies and the river village. I'll take the fortress, and the ones in the forest, too. Says here they've been grabbing chickens and small portions of grain; can't be more than a few goblins nearby, maybe five max. They shouldn't be too much trouble for a while, so I can take care of them after the fort unless I run into them beforehand. Those Steel-ranks are going to need the help if that fortress is as big as I'm thinking it is, and that nest is already a serious problem."

"Think you can take on a whole fortress of them by yourself? Those adventurers might already be dead," Goblin Slayer pointed out.

"'Might,'" Dovahkiin pointed out the word Goblin Slayer used. "But I have to try. And I've fought in plenty of fortresses, both against Stormcloaks and Thalmor soldiers. Hell, depending on its construction I could just use the building itself as a weapon." Dovahkiin handed the papers over to Guild Girl.

"Please, stay safe, Dovahkiin," Priestess said.

He patted her on the head. "Don't worry, I will."

With that, Dovahkiin took the quest information from Guild Girl before hurrying outside. Now out in the open, he summoned a ball of energy in each hand before unleashing them on the road. To the surprise of everyone in the immediate vicinity, the energy formed a portal of magic before taking the shape of a horse and then forming it completely. Demonic eyes glowed through the holes in the armor covering red and black skin adorned with runes. The horse, a Daedric summon from the time Dovahkiin had to stop a modern-day resurrection of the Mythic Dawn from unleashing more Daedra from the Deadlands of Oblivion, was the perfect match for the appearance and power of its summoner.

Dovahkiin ignored the looks and words of those around him as he mounted the black, metal-plated saddle and began taking off south. Hopefully the horse's Oblivion-fueled speed would allow him to make it in time…

"Still nothing to report. A few of those things are going in and out, but otherwise it seems that they're holed up in there pretty tight." Rhea Ranger brought down the monocular that she'd been using to observe the fortress that they'd been sent to.

Human Monk lightly patted her cheeks during the brief pause to try and steady her nerves much to the concern of her mage teammate, Elf Wizard.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Human Monk offered her a sure, if shaky, smile. "Y-Yeah. Just a little tired, is all."

Their leader, Noble Knight, smiled at her determination before turning serious. "I think it would be best if we settled in for the evening and rest before we head into that fortress. Guild Girl told us how dangerous goblins are, especially to women like us, so we need to be physically and mentally ready to go in and get out as quickly as possible. We'll take two-hour shifts each on watch, me as the last, but let's set up camp a little further away from here. I doubt the scouts would come this far on their own, but I'm not taking any chances."

A little bit of apprehension crossed her teammates' faces, but nevertheless the four of them headed away from the fortress to set up camp and get some sleep.

(Time skip)

"Should be around noon now; those things are mostly active during the morning and night, and I'm not seeing any outside now. None of them have been coming in or out for a while, so they should all be asleep," Rhea Ranger reported to the others.

The other three adventuresses nodded as they gathered up their things and headed out to infiltrate the fortress. It didn't take them long to reach the fortress' gate, and they snuck in with Rhea Ranger leading the way. Overall, entering the abandoned fort wasn't that difficult since only a few goblins were forced to sleep outside for whatever reason, and they were quickly dispatched with an arrow to the throat. Moving slowly and stiffly to avoid making too much noise—especially Noble Knight and her iron armor—they eventually entered the fortress itself.

This was where problems arose. As they delved deeper into the main building, the number of sleeping goblins increased to the point where Knight and Ranger stopped killing them in silence out of risk of waking up a nearby comrade. They decided on only killing the ones directly in their way of rescuing their captives, and that they'd worry about the rest when the women were safely back in the village. Plus, killing so many goblins was starting to tire them out, even if only a bit, and they needed to be able to escape just as quietly with extra people.

One goblin had woken up and was too groggy to immediately notice the intruding team, giving Rhea Ranger the time she needed to knock an arrow and take aim. She sent the arrow flying through the air just as the goblin spotted them and was about to raise the alarm. It was silenced by the arrow penetrating its right eye and brain, driving out the back of the creature's skull when it fell forward to the ground. A couple others stirred in their sleep, but otherwise ignored the noise.

Rhea Ranger let out a sigh that she'd been holding. "That was close. Not too bad though, I guess. Guild Girl was probably overreacting about them," she said as she pulled another arrow out of her quiver.

"Still, we can't get complacent. We need to get those women out without waking the entire nest, and we might not be so lucky the whole trip," Elf Wizard pointed out.

Human Monk listened to their conversation, nervously looking around the area at the goblins they were leaving behind to snore. "W-Well, let's hope it stays like this. I really want to get out of here," she said.

She looked over her shoulder when an armored hand was placed on it. "Don't worry, we'll be ok. We get those women, get them back home, and see if we can get a few extra hands to help us kill the rest of them," Noble Knight told her younger teammate.

The team continued through the fortress with Rhea Ranger identifying and disarming what traps they found. It took some time, but they eventually made it through an archway into another large room. Ranger, who'd been walking slightly ahead of the rest of the group, immediately stopped them. Lying in the middle of the area was one of the women they'd been sent to rescue.

Rhea Ranger immediately ran to the naked woman's side as quietly as she could before picking her up. "H-Hey! It's ok! We're here to—" She stopped upon realizing two things: one, the woman was already dead. Blood trickled out of her mouth, and she was cold against part of Ranger's arm not covered by her glove; two, the woman's body had been covering a pressure plate that Rhea Ranger had failed to notice due to her focus on the woman (along with being rather tired with all the other traps she'd been dealing with the whole time).

The metal trigger, now no longer weighed down, clicked and released it's hold on a rope holding a net into the air behind the team. It was sent crashing down to the ground, the horseshoes, pots, pans, and bits and pieces of armor and other metal parts making a monstrous ruckus that terrified the four adventurers. Worse, the alarm immediately woke up the various goblins around the room, and even a few from the direction that they'd came from.

The little green creatures groggily looked around the room. Their frantic movements stopped once they saw the four intruders, but they immediately took interest when they saw the group was entirely female. Lust and dark desires entered their eyes as they picked up their weapons and whatever else was at hand and closed in, cackling the entire time.

Noble Knight started to panic and immediate began issuing orders to her team. "Fall back! Single file! I'll take rear guard!" she shouted as she decapitated a goblin with her sword. Rhea Ranger was busy nocking arrows and sending them flying, her skills boosted by blessings and divine magic allowing her to easily snipe goblins that had been farther away when the alarm went off. Elf Wizard stood behind her leader as she chanted and moved her staff, activating a spell. White energy began to form around her before focusing on her staff, which she swung horizontally to send the energy beaming towards a large group of goblins. Their legs ran for a few seconds after being separated from their torsos.

Human Monk stood next to Elf Wizard, praying for miracles to protect her and the others. She was briefly interrupted when an arrow whizzed by her cheek, forcing her to break her concentration and catch it mid-air before the projectile could impale the back of Elf Wizard's head. The team mage giving a look of shock at how close she came to instant death before going back to her spells.

They continued like this for a few more minutes until Rhea Ranger felt that her quiver only had one more arrow, and she had no chance of retrieving any from the high number of bodies around the group. She nocked it and shouted, "W-We need to get out of here! I'm out!" before hitting one last goblin in the throat. The green creature gurgled for a moment before falling forward and sending the arrow out the back of its neck. Her panic only rose when it seemed like the number of goblins was increasing despite their very high kill count. She tucked her bow away before pulling out her steel dagger and holding it in a reverse grip.

Noble Knight planted her sword into the skull of a goblin before yanking it out. Wiping the blood that sprayed over her face out of her eyes, she shouted, "We will! Just stick together! Keep sing—!" Black and white spots consumed her vision as she fell to the ground, pain instantly originating from the back of her head.

With their only melee fighter and leader down, the other three were almost instantly taken down by the advancing goblins. Rhea Ranger managed to stab one goblin in the head but was unable to pull her dagger out before she was dogpiled by half a dozen others. Elf Wizard sent out one more spell and was starting the chant for her fifth—and last—spell before a goblin lunged at her face, covering her mouth with its dirty hand and tackling her to the ground so that his comrades could grab her limbs. Human Monk kept up her prayers as long as she could, but with nothing left, resorted to swinging her staff in fear-induced panic, vision blurred by her tears. A couple of goblins actually looked dumbfounded at her attacks before one of them yanked the wooden object out of her hands and struck her in the head with it.

Noble Knight's vision began to clear up as she felt herself getting shoved around on the ground as the goblins worked to try and get her out of her armor. Between the creatures standing in her way, she was able to make out that her comrades were going through the same process as she was. They screamed as the goblins, taking advantage of the number of new spoils, took their time in ripping and shredding their robes, cloaks, and leather vests. Normally a quick process with the fastest ones getting the first taste, the fact that there was a smaller amount of goblins around meant that the survivors had more time to do as they pleased. The opportunity for added humiliation and terror on the girls' faces was just polish on the jewels.

Noble Knight let loose another scream as her armor and clothing was ripped off, fabric and leather strips flying through the air as grubby little hands began to explore her body. She started to yank herself free of her captors and started throwing punches as fast and hard as she could, but only managed to hit one goblin in the nose and get it off her before another slapped her across the face, blood beginning to drip from her own nose. Another pair of hands grabbed her head and forced her to watch the rest of the adventurers get stripped and held down, Human Monk being the center of attention for everyone.

The youngest member of the team was busy fighting as best as she could, but she wasn't strong enough to get any of her limbs free. Her eyes filled with terror as one goblin managed to fight its way to between her legs and was now messing with its loincloth, getting ready to be the first to take the young woman. Human Monk was now trying to dig her nails into one of the other goblins holding her arms in place, but her hands weren't able to reach her captors before the main goblin's single piece of clothing fell to the ground. The screams of her teammates' begging to let them go and not touch her fell on deaf, uncaring ears as the goblin prepared to enjoy itself.

It would have succeeded if not for something getting thrown at it and sending it flying off the adventurer.

Forcing itself up on its hands and knees, it looked at what had dared stopped it only to see that one half of another goblin had been thrown at it. Noises coming from the entrance to the room, the same place where the intruders had entered from, pulled the attention of the creatures who'd paused their assault as something could be heard heading for them. What they and the girls weren't expecting was for some sort of evil-looking horse, clad in black armor with a hellish glow coming from under the plating, to come trotting through the crowd. It launched several goblins through the air and stomped a few of them into the ground before continuing its run through the area.

A few goblins had picked up their weapons and gave chase as fast as they could, but most of them moved to reclaim the girls who'd been freed when the horse barreled through their captors. Noble Knight had managed to shake herself of her panic long enough to grab her sword and began to swing it at what goblins she could, but she wasn't in any shape to do much fighting. Exhaustion from trying to fend of the little runts grabbing her mixed with the blow to her head meant that she was still uncoordinated and unable to gather enough strength to protect her friends, let alone herself, but she'd be dammed if she was going back down without a fight.

Fortunately, the horse wasn't the only thing that apparently came to their aid.

As Noble Knight stood, blade in hand, something began to send arrows past her and into the heads of the creatures in front of her. Looking around from where they came from proved useless in the low-light conditions, so she decided to start focusing on the ones that got to close to the group that the archer wouldn't be able to target without risking hitting them. She had just pulled her sword out of the torso of one when she heard heavy footsteps rushing from behind. Looking back, her jaw dropped at the red-eyed, dark armor-wearing figure rushing towards her and the others. The iron weapons in its hands, a dagger in one and a short sword in the other, pointed outwards and ready to be used.

Noble Knight was put into a new state of panic as the thing that looked like something that'd be following orders from a Demon Lord got closer rather quickly in spite of the armor looking quite heavy and uncomfortable. Even more fortunate for her and the others, it ran right past her and swung its sword at a goblin who'd tried to take advantage of her distraction and jump her. The creature landed in two halves as the figure looked back at her, red orbs seemingly staring into her soul.

"Get your partners to a safer place, I'll cover you! Go!" it, or rather, he said. He then turned back, weapons at the ready as the goblins that had given up trying to find the armored horse returned to take back the women.

Noble Knight watched as the man started expertly swinging his blades, aiming for the weak points and easily removed areas of the goblins. It seemed that he was doing just as good as, if not better than, they did as a group by himself. She didn't watch for long though, before she decided to help her teammates like he'd ordered. Elf Wizard and Rhea Ranger were quickly pulled to their feet and immediately began to grab Human Monk. The young girl had been completely surprised at the new arrival and was focused completely on him. She was so distracted that she'd tried to fight when Elf Wizard and Rhea Ranger grabbed her arms to lift her up and head away from the violent scene playing out in front of them.

They retreated to the entrance of the room and hid behind the wall far enough so that they could continue to watch as the man kept killing the goblins. Every five or six goblins, he'd discard the blood-soaked weapon he'd been using before scavenging replacements from the fallen goblins around him. This continued until he noticed them hiding in the narrow corridor and looked between them and the remaining creatures. He thought for a minute before running to the archway.

"Get back, I have a plan!" he ordered.

"Which is?!" Noble Knight shouted as she covered herself as best as she could given the circumstances.

"Just move!"

The four did as they were told and continued down the corridor with him following behind. Once they were about halfway through, he'd ordered them to stop before turning back to where they came. Behind them was the remaining goblins swarming down like a green river, hellbent on getting their playthings back and revenge on the black figure that'd dared stop their fun.

"Do something, please!" Elf Wizard begged.

"Not yet…" he responded.

They were getting closer.

"Now!?" Rhea Ranger shouted. Her dagger was clutched in her hand, and she had half a mind to grab the others and simply run and let this… lunatic deal with the approaching swarm, but instinct told her to stay put.

"Just a little more…" he said as he reared back a bit.

They were even closer, lust and rage filling their glowing eyes.

Noble Knight raised her sword and prepared to charge and give time for the others to escape, but she was quickly pushed back by the figure. He reared back and…

"FUS RO DAH!"

The effect is near-instantaneous. As he bent forward and Shouted, a wave of unrelenting energy coned out in front of him. The goblins, at near point-blank range, didn't even know what happened. The first group of goblins was immediately vaporized by the pure force and strength of the wave leaving little to show they had existed. The ones behind them weren't so lucky; they had a few moments to register themselves being torn into pieces as if they'd fallen from a great height and landed on solid rock, their remains being sent back with the wave. The third and final group had a bit more time to see what was happening, but they had no time to stop and move out of the way due to the narrow corridor acting as a choke point. Blinded by the remains of the goblins in front of them splattering and coating them in red, they weren't able to register that they'd been thrown off their feet and were now heading out of the archway and into the back wall of the room they'd been sleeping in. The sudden stop killed all those thrown as the air was filled with the sound of bone being crushed and flesh being forcibly ripped upon impact.

With that, the five adventurers stood still in the corridor. Four looked on in pure shock at the unique magic used to dispatch their attackers while the fifth one looked on, waiting for any survivors to launch another attack. Seeing none for the moment, he silently started heading back to survey the damage. The four girls managed to come back to reality and follow a few seconds later.

Entering the room again, they saw him looking over the corpses of the goblins slain before he used his magic. He seemed to be alert, and they were about to ask him what was wrong before he held up one of his hands and summoned a purple cloud of magic. Unbeknownst to them, a purple aura came over his eyes underneath his helmet as he surveyed the bodies. He held it for a second before he picked up a nearby spear and walked over to a crowd of the dead things, muttering "Smart little bastards…"

"W-What are you—?" Noble Knight began to ask before her question was physically answered by the man raising the spear before planting it into the skull of one of the bodies, which immediately jerked and moved a bit before going completely limp. He pulled the spear out of the goblin before moving around and doing the same to a few others that had hid amongst their really dead comrades.

After about eight goblins had been identified as playing dead and finished off, he left the spear in the torso of the final corpse before moving back to the girls.

"Amazing… H-How did you know that they were faking?" Noble Knight asked with the same intrigued expression as before.

"I didn't," he answered honestly. "I thought I saw one of them moving around and decided to see if Detect Life could pick up anything. Sure enough, those ones were smart enough to try and play dead. It's a good thing to kill them know before they try that again or move to a new nest and teach it to their brethren."

Rhea Ranger looked around a bit before nervously asking, "D-Do you think we're safe for now?"

"We should be, but we also shouldn't take too long just in case others show up looking for the dead ones. I already checked everywhere outside for more of them."

Whatever relief Noble Knight had for their rescue was replaced by anger as the other two showed up. "Wait, you knew we were here?! How long did you intend to watch us be…?!" she shouted, grip tightening on her sword.

The man wasn't fazed, or at least didn't show it. "I knew you were at this fortress—the Guild sent me here—but I wasn't aware that the four of you had been overrun until I got down here. Not trying to be an asshole, but in case you forgot, you left a lot of goblins alive on your way to get to this area. They would've joined in the fight if I hadn't taken care of them."

The four women's eyes widened in realization. They hadn't noticed at the time, but there hadn't been any goblins coming in from the way they'd came like there should have been. If they'd joined in when the alarm went off…

Rhea Ranger's eyes widened. "You mean, we were basically trapped on all sides because we didn't kill enough on the way in…?" She wrapped her arms around her body, shivering from the night's cool air and the realization that their sneaky entrance would've simply put them in greater danger. After all, she'd been the one who suggested her group should sneak in.

"I'm afraid so," he answered.

All of them looked down in shame. The blunder that they made in the haste to rescue the goblins' hostages could have easily cost them their lives and put them in the same position, and it would have if their rescuer hadn't arrived. This new knowledge made their embarrassment over their lack of coverage in front of the man seem practically mundane. The man in question stared for a minute before looking away from them and instead headed to where they'd been stripped and nearly violated. The women followed him in confusion until he started gathering up what remained of their clothing and handing it over to them.

Rhea Ranger managed to recover her shorts and most of her shirt. Combined with her scarf, she managed to cover herself up enough so as to not be too embarrassed in front of the man. Elf Wizard's pointy ears were as crimson as her cheeks as she was left to wear her cloak as a skirt while her corset served as a makeshift top after some minor stitching. Noble Knight was probably the luckiest as she was able to secure most of her armor that the goblins couldn't rip apart like they could fabric. After removing some of the leather belts from her gauntlets and shredded leather under armor, she managed to have enough to wear until she could get back to Frontier Town.

Human Monk had it the worst, however, as little she entered the fortress with was salvageable. She held a few small sheets of what used to be her cloak in front of her more personal areas as the others looked around to see if there was anything that she could use for the time being, but there simply wasn't. She was left standing in shame and misery as her teammates continued their search but were eventually forced to stop when the man approached with a cotton sheet he'd packed in his bag. Wrapping it around her shoulders, he had her hold it in place as he used some wire and pins to form a makeshift cloak so the poor girl could have some decency again.

"Thank you…" she said, unable to look at him directly.

"Don't mention it. I'm Dovahkiin," he said as he finished his work. Seeing that it wasn't going to slip off easily, he went back to gather more weapons and prepared to head deeper into the fortress. He was quickly stopped by Elf Wizard grabbing his hand, careful to avoid the claws on the armored glove.

"W-Wait, You can't seriously be thinking about continuing on alone!" she said in disbelief.

"I'm not thinking, I know I'm going to continue. My job is to clear out the rest of the goblins," he pointed out. This took them by surprise as they'd assumed he was here to rescue the women, same as them.

"T-That's all?!" Rhea Ranger said in disbelief. "What about the other hostages?!"

Dovahkiin looked over at something behind them. Looking back, they saw the body of the girl that had been rigged to trigger the alarm, still laying where Rhea Ranger had dropped her. He looked back at them.

"If she's any indication then the others are probably dead as well. I've been told by another adventurer—guy who's a specialist at these things—things about goblins, one of them being that they don't feed or care for women they've captured. Almost none of them last a week of being used for entertainment or to bolster their ranks, and then they're eaten when they succumb to the treatment. Any idea of how long they've been missing?" Dovahkiin asked.

The team hadn't considered a time limit when they first took the quest. Human Monk looked to Noble Knight as her leader racked her mind for the quest details. "It's been… about two weeks since the first girl was reported missing," she said in a somber tone.

Dovahkiin looked down sadly and sighed. "Then I'm sorry. It's too late for them," he said.

This left the four women heartbroken as they'd accepted a quest that was doomed to begin with. The events of the day started to wear on them as they clenched their fists. If they or someone else had just been faster or accepted the quest sooner, those girls would've been home getting treated by now.

Dovahkiin turned away from the passage leading deeper into the fortress to address the saddened party. "Look, you're quest to rescue them is finished; you can leave while you can and head back to the village to let them know of what happened here. But these goblins are going to keep pillaging and dragging more women here unless something is done about it, and I plan to. If you want to tag along, I won't stop you, but I won't judge you if you want to leave."

His words must've carried power since they looked between one another before looking back at him. Their eyes were filled with determination as they brought up what weapons they had left. "We're coming with you," Noble Knight said, her voice indicating that there wouldn't be any arguing about it.

"Very well," he said as he took off his backpack and began digging through it. "You'll need these before we can get moving." He handed Rhea Ranger a quiver full of steel arrows so she could resume using her bow and then pulled out a steel helmet for Noble Knight. She looked over the metal headgear in her hands as her mind wandered back to the goblin that had managed to sling her in the head and nearly cost them their lives. Shaking it off, she spun the helmet around and placed it on her head.

All of them were given some small healing potions as well before they moved on to the rest of the fort.

(Scene change)

Dovahkiin dipped another arrow in oil before handing it to Rhea Ranger, who added it to the pile of other flammable arrows while Human Monk stood nearby with a torch. Elf Wizard had her staff at the ready while Noble Knight kept watch for any goblins that came out of the main building of the fort.

Once they had arrived to the main building, Dovahkiin used Aura Whisper and identified that the were far more goblins there alone than when he and the women had first arrived. Rather than try and lure them out to a fight in the open courtyard grounds, he decided to try and use the fort's construction against the goblins first. Soaking some of his cheaper arrows in oil and having Human Monk stand at the ready to light them, he and Rhea Ranger were going to launch the flaming projectiles to get the building burning while simultaneously taking out the ranged goblins. Then he'd work with Elf Wizard and her last spell to get the entrance and most of the outside burning as well to prevent any of the goblins from leaving. Finally, Noble Knight would be responsible for finishing off any that managed to escape the inferno while he'd look around for any that tried to jump and make an escape.

Soaking a final arrow, he pulled out his Daedric Bow and looked at the female party. "All right, everyone remember their roles?" Seeing them all nod in confirmation, he said, "Good. Let's do it."

Human Monk lit the arrows on fire, and Rhea Ranger and Dovahkiin nocked them with their bows and took aim. Rhea Ranger personally targeted a goblin standing by one of the windows of the upper floor. The goblin looked outside and, seeing the intruders in the courtyard, turned around and alerted the rest of the nest. It looked back just in time to get a searing pain punching through its cheek and into its skull caused it to fall off the upper floor and to the ground. The other goblins had no time to figure out what was going on before more flaming projectiles started raining down on them from the windows. Soon the entire building was filled with ever-growing flames and choking smoke.

The goblins that hadn't been burned or hit immediately headed for the main entrance/exit of the building only to be greeted by Elf Wizard, Human Monk, and Dovahkiin waiting for them. Human Monk and Elf Wizard had their staves at the ready while Dovahkiin had put away his bow and was now equipped with a sword in each hand. The three of them stood in formation as the goblins continued running towards the doorway.

Dovahkiin looked to the two magic users and nodded. Human Monk used her last miracle to buff Elf Wizard. The team mage used her final spell, chanting "Carbunculus… crescent… iacta! Fireball!" and spun her staff in a circle before sending the flaming projectile towards the approaching goblins. The creatures didn't have much room to avoid the magical burning sphere and were quickly burnt alive, their screams echoing over the sound of the building beginning to internally collapse.

Her final attack proved more draining for Elf Wizard, unfortunately, and began to collapse to her knees. Dovahkiin caught her before she could fall, but he wasn't able to catch her staff.

He held the panting mage up and asked, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah…" she answered between breaths. "Just a bit… drained. I can't… do any more."

"That's fine. Noble Knight and I can take it from here. Just rest. Human Monk, take her over there and let her sit for a minute."

Human Monk helped Elf Wizard to a nearby empty fountain and sat with her as Noble Knight and Dovahkiin approached the still-burning entrance.

"YOL TOOR SHUL!"

Fire immediately spewed from in front of Dovahkiin. One goblin had developed the courage to try and jump the fire cutting off the entrance and had been mid-air when the Dragon Shout made contact. The combined force and enhanced heat made sure the goblin was thrown back as its skin and muscle was flayed and burned. It had little time to scream in further pain before being overcome by the fires within.

Noble Knight looked on at Dovahkiin's power. "Why do I feel like that's not regular magic like Elf Wizard's?" she asked the armored individual.

"Because it isn't," he answered. "I'll explain it on our way back to town. Right now I want you to keep an eye out for anymore that try and get around the fire," he said as he began to trek around the collapsing building.

"Where are you going?"

"Making sure there's no more entrances or places that they can use to escape. They could've used the windows out of desperation, too."

With that, he moved on.

(Time skip)

It didn't seem like any goblins survived the inferno. A few had tried to use the windows out of a leap of faith but hadn't had any way of cushioning their fall. Thus, they'd killed themselves at best and were left twisted and broken until Dovahkiin had followed their screams and finished them off at worst. Another use of Aura Whisper confirmed that no more goblins were left, and he immediately headed back to the group. Arriving, he saw a bunch of goblin corpses with various stab wounds and missing limbs with Noble Knight standing over them,

"We had these try and escape. Any more?" she asked when Dovahkiin approached her.

"Just some that had used the windows like I suspected; I already took care of them. We ready to go?" Dovahkiin answered.

"I believe we are," Noble Knight said as the two of them walked back over to Elf Wizard, Human Monk, and Rhea Ranger. Elf Wizard was still sitting down and seemed tired, but she seemed determined to get out of the fortress—understandably so—and simply used her staff as a sort of walking stick for the time being. With all of their stuff gathered, the five adventurers left the fortress.

Stopping by the village that had been the ones to put in the request to get the chief to sign off on the paperwork, they were met by several grateful villagers. Dovahkiin was the one who volunteered to break the news that they hadn't been able to rescue the captives before they perished, and he hated that there was little he could do to comfort those who lost a sister, daughter, or even a lover. The worst was the man who's sister had been the first kidnapped victim a few weeks prior.

Turning down the offer to stay the night and to get back to Frontier Town as soon as possible before anyone else was sent to investigate, the group set out. They were mostly quiet at the start, but soon began to talk and try and get their minds off the troubling events of the evening. Loss of life and loved loves alongside just how close they came to meeting the same fate. Dovahkiin also started to join in on the conversation.

It wasn't until an hour or two into their trek that it became obvious that Elf Wizard was having difficulties walking, and it wasn't just from being tired as Dovahkiin had given her a couple of stamina potions for the long road ahead. Ignoring her encouragements for the group to continue, Noble Knight eventually stopped everyone and forced Elf Wizard to explain what was wrong with her. Sitting down, Elf Wizard removed her boot to reveal a nasty-looking bruise on her ankle that had been troubling her movement now that the adrenaline had left her system.

Noble Knight pinched the bridge of her nose. "Elf Wizard…" she said in a disappointed tone.

"I—I'm sorry! It must've happened when we were overrun, but it didn't start hurting too badly until just now," she said.

Rhea Ranger looked to Dovahkiin. "She's always been like this; not saying anything about injuries until the worst time," she explained for him.

"It could be worse," Dovahkiin pointed out. He then walked over to Elf Wizard and kneeled down. "Let me see if I can help," he said.

Mildly embarrassed, Elf Wizard moved her leg into Dovahkiin's waiting hands and allowed him to look over her injury. Holding it still in one hand, he raised his left and allowed it to glow with golden energy which he put on her bruised ankle. After a brief hiss at pain at his contact to her sensitive area, it began to feel… warm and rather comforting, Soon the bruising died down and with it Dovahkiin's magic.

Helping her put her boot back on, he said, "Try it now."

Elf Wizard stood up with Human Monk giving her a hand and put more weight back on her foot. It still hurt a bit, but she wasn't limping as bad.

Still, Dovahkiin sighed. "I should've figured. Healing Hands does more for actual wounds than bruising or soreness." With that, purple energy formed in his hands as he pointed them at the ground near the group. Suddenly, a similarly colored portal appeared and summoned some kind of horse. The same horse that had jumped the goblins during their assault when he'd arrived.

Much to Elf Wizards shock, Dovahkiin scooped her up bridal style. Her cheeks and tips of her ears were cherry red as the armored man carried her to the horse and set her on the saddle as best as he could. Adjusting herself, she watched him grab the reins and stand next to her and her new temporary ride.

He turned to the others. "Sorry, but I can't summon more than one, or else we wouldn't need to walk the whole trip. More of a warrior than a mage even if I'm experienced with magic; it's not something I'm particularly skilled with." Grateful that they accepted his explanation, he led them further down the path. Looking over his shoulder, he said, "I think we have enough time for me to explain some things and my powers."

Sorry about the long wait for this chapter, everyone. Work and some writer's block got in the way, and I've been planning on what's going on in the chapters ahead in my free time at work. For now I want to get the next chapter of Remnant Decepticons written and posted before Dovahkiin takes to the sewers with a couple of rookies.

On that note, how do you think Lizard Priest will react to Dovahkiin's dragon soul seeing his own feelings about wishing to become one (at least spiritually)? Tell me what you think.

See y'all next time!