Chapter 1: Green as Grass, Cut like Grass
"Dovahkiin? No!"
The same words that served as Mirmulnir's last, too late to realize who'd made the fatal slash that led to his soul being eaten, rang through the Dragonborn's ears, deafening him as the white light that appeared when he first removed the Altmer scroll blinded him. It felt as though he was falling from a great height, memories of Bard's Leap Summit re-surfacing nearly a decade after he'd taken the jump that led him to learning part of Become Ethereal. He would've used the Shout in question, but any attempts to do anything seemed to be blocked; no spells, no shouts, not even his weapon or his torch remained in his hands.
He seemed to fall for several minutes, probably less, until he felt himself hit the ground of what seemed like a cave. Lying on his back, he kept his eyes closed under his helmet for a minute.
He opened them when he heard… something making weird noises. Looking up at the ceiling confirmed that he was, in fact, in a cave. Looking to the side, however, made him see some sort of creatures that he'd never seen before standing in a big room that he'd landed in.
They all looked like small, green humanoids in trousers. Only a couple of feet tall, they reminded him a lot of the Rieklings he faced on Solstheim mixed with the goblins of Cyrodiil. As his eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room, he could get a better look at them.
One stood near a throne of some sort holding a staff with a hood over its face, its long nose sticking out of the gap made by its headwear and exposing its mouth. Judging by its more unique appearance, it must've been the chief of this group. The others—he only counted two others in the room, surprisingly—were more or less the same; they all wore the trousers he'd seen them in, and didn't have much more than them, if anything else at all.
They all just stood around, watching their new guest and making those same noises. Evidently, they didn't care for the new arrival as they pulled up their weapons and slowly began to approach him. They all looked crude and cheaply made, but so were the Falmers' gear, and he'd fought them enough to know not to underestimate any possible enemies.
Even so, he couldn't blame them for wanting to immediately attack him. He did just come out of nowhere and into their home; He'd be quick on the draw unless it was somebody he knew, and even then, knocking was a thing.
He was about to raise his hands and offer to leave peacefully, even if they couldn't understand him, when he heard what sounded like a whimper behind him. He looked over his shoulder to the side of the cave room behind him, but he immediately had to do a double-take and partially turn his upper body to make sure he was seeing what he thought he was seeing, and so that his vision wasn't blocked by his armor's spiked shoulder guards.
Four women had been tossed to the side of the cave, all of them naked and covered in filth and… fluids he didn't want to think about. Adding to the shock was their age. The Dragonborn was, admittedly, not good with determining someone's age via looks, but these women seemed young, maybe early- to mid-20s at the most. At least one of them looked to be younger than the other three.
The younger one in question had made the noise due to a fourth creature starting to violate her from behind, cackling as it did so. The other three were hurt as well, trembling and sobbing, but were being ignored at the moment due to his arrival.
Whatever intentions he had about leaving peacefully went out the door; he needed to get them out of here and to the nearest village, and make sure that these animals couldn't do this again. Turning back to the others, they'd apparently decided peace wasn't an option for him as well since one had leaped into the air with a crude spear in its hands and attempted to stab The Dragonborn with it. Reaching up and grabbing it before it could land on him, his superior reach prevented it from doing little more than jabbing him in the chest plate with its poor-quality weapon.
The cave began to glow a bit as he saw the chief summon a ball of magic with its staff. Thinking fast, he leaned up and threw the thing in his hands at the shaman. It collided with the magic user and knocked it off its feet and into the chair behind it. The other creature pulled out a dagger and charged at him, but he was ready.
Rolling to the side as it stabbed the dirt floor of the cave, The Dragonborn felt his weapon press against his back mid-dodge. Now on his hands and knees, he picked up his Daedric Waraxe and stood up to observe his enemies. The shaman and spear user were now back up, the shaman readying another attack, while the fourth creature had temporarily abandoned its assault on one of their hostages to arm itself with a wooden club.
'Small yet frail, most likely power in numbers with exception of the mage and who knows what else in the rest of the cave,' he though as he reared back and threw his weapon at the shaman.
The 18-pound blade flew through the air before hitting the shaman in the head blade-first, splitting it in half. Now unarmed again, he brought his hands up as the club-wielder ran at him and jumped, swinging the simple but effective weapon at The Dragonborn's head. He caught it with his hands like the first one, but it managed to hit him with the club. Thankfully, his helmet took the blow and left it barely fazing him.
Ripping the club from its grip, he held the creature by its neck and the club by the middle and jammed the narrow grip into the creature's face at an angle. His theory about them being frail was partially proven true when the club punched through the creature's cheek and into the brain, killing it instantly. Yanking it out, he threw the corpse at the spear user as a distraction while he ran at the one with the dagger who was also charging at him.
It took much less effort than the first one, as a simple swing of the club to the torso sent the thing flying into one of the cave walls. Landing on the floor, it spazzed for a few seconds before going limp, killed by the rupture of several internal organs and shattering of bones. One left, The Dragonborn ran to it, club raised in the air, and brought down.
The last creature, busy getting its comrade's body of it, tried to shield itself with its arms. They simply snapped backwards and added to its head exploding, skull and brain matter coating the ground, weapon, and The Dragonborn. Glancing around, he saw that nothing else had arrived during the brief fight. Although good, he would need to check the rest of the cave before he could get the girls to safety.
Dropping the club and walking over to them, pausing to retrieve his waraxe and holster it at his side, he brought up his hands as they glowed with bright gold light. Using Heal Other, he took care of any physical wounds the girls might've received before he got closer and kneeled before them.
"Can any of you talk?" he asked. It would be a long shot, but he needed to see if any of them were still capable of moving and listening to him.
The younger girl on the floor looked up at him through her tears. "W-who… what are you? S-some kind of… demon?" she managed to whimper out.
The Dragonborn sighed. Daedric Armor was great when he needed to be a bit more forceful in getting information out of people, but then there were times like this where it just scared people who didn't need more stress. "No, I'm human as you are. I'm not here to harm you or do… more of whatever those things were that did this to you or them. What were they?"
"T-those are goblins. Our village h-had been having trouble with them, a-and we went to the Guild for help. They raided us a few days ago and… brought us here to… to…" The girl looked to be on the verge of breaking down again.
The Dragonborn, gently as he could with his kind of armor, helped her off her stomach and into a crouch. He hugged her as best as he could. "You don't need to say anything more. I'll get you and the others out of here, but I need to make sure the way out is clear. Do you know if there are more than just these four?"
"T-Thank you. I…I don't know how many, but there are more. They went out of the room and left the ones you killed here." She shakily raised her arm and pointed to an incline leading out of the room and into the rest of the cave.
He pulled away so he could look the girl in the eyes. "Ok. I'll take care of the rest of them and find the exit. You stay here and see if you can find anything to cover you and the others up. When I get back, I'll get you all out of here and to the nearest village, but I'll need to know where it is. Can you do that for me?"
She hesitated for a moment, but shakily nodded her head.
The Dragonborn stood up and helped her to her feet. Much to her surprise he reached back and brought out his Daedric Crossbow, enhanced to more easily punch through armor. Loading a fresh bolt, he prepared himself to go after the rest of these "goblins."
'Guess I can't say too much against the ones in Cyrodiil, now; At least they didn't—'
His thoughts were interrupted by a blood-curdling scream echoing off the cave walls. It was soon followed by someone else shouting. Judging by the sounds, it was another woman who screamed while a man came after. Knowing what could happen if he didn't hurry, he turned back the girl as he entered his warrior-mindset again.
"Find something to cover you and the others, but do not leave this room under any circumstances until I or someone else comes back for you!" he ordered as he started running out of the room.
An unknown time ago…
In one of the training rooms of the Sorcerers' Academy, Wizard held her training staff as her teacher and the Arch-Mage looked on. After a brief chant of "Sagitta… Inflammarea… Raedius!... Firebolt!" a bolt of fire left the head of the staff towards a wooden target. It made contact, burning it to black ashes almost instantly.
Teacher Sorcerer looked on at his star student with pride. "She can use Firebolt twice at her age! Most impressive."
Arch-Mage nodded but was more reserved. "Yes. She's got a lot of talent, but she works hard as well."
Time, training, and learning continued for Wizard until the day of her graduation. She stood before the Arch-Mage in the graduation hall in the ceremonial robes she and the other students had been given for special occasions, including this one. She waited patiently while the other honor students were addressed and given their certificates and rewards. Finally, it was her turn.
The Arch-Mage held a staff in her hands as she spoke. "In the name of the history and honor of the Sorcerers' Academy, we hereby recognize your exceptional work in our magical arts program." Arch-Mage handed Wizard the staff. "You have graduated. Congratulations. There are great things in store for you. Never forget to keep training," Arch-Mage reminded her.
"Yes, ma'am! Thank you!" Wizard said with a smile as she held her new staff.
Present…
Pinned down by the goblins that had ambushed her and Priestess—separated from the two melee fighters of their team—Wizard was left vulnerable, lacking the strength to break free from their grip. Her staff had been yanked out of her hand by one of the filthy creatures, and it now looked down at her as she could do little but reach out for it, pointlessly demanding it back.
The goblin, seeing how much she valued it, simply held it in two hands before snapping it in half, cackling the whole time.
Fueled by the rage at the loss of the weapon that she'd worked so hard to earn, Wizard growled and began thrashing around. She managed to kick off one of the goblins holding on to her legs, and she tossed another one to the floor. This did little than further aggravate them, however, and Fighter and Warrior were still too far to help as they ran to them.
Nearby, Priestess swung her own staff at the vermin pinning her teammate to the ground, shouting, "Get away from her, monsters!" though it did little to help.
Sadly, neither of the two were able to keep one goblin from getting to Wizard's side. She could only look on in horror as the goblin raised a dagger high in the air. It savored the panic and terror for a moment before slamming the blade into Wizard's unprotected stomach and quickly yanking it out. Her screams of pain echoed through the cave as she ripped her right arm free to clutch at her bleeding wound. She continued screaming as she rolled around in pain, and Priestess could only look on as she stopped swinging her staff around.
It was only by now that Warrior and Fighter arrived. The former tossed their torch to the side as he drew his longsword and swung at the goblins still surrounding Wizard, nailing the one that had injured her. He ran around her to give chase to the other goblins that had backed away from the girls, threatening them for hurting the mage.
Fighter had kneeled over Wizard who had stopped moving and left her limp hand over her wound. She looked over her shoulder to Priestess, standing still with panic, and yelled, "Get over here!"
Priestess whimpered, but she managed to pull herself together and kneel on the other side of Wizard. Following Fighter's order to perform a healing miracle, she held her open palm over Wizard's stomach and began to chant.
"O Earth Mother, abounding in mercy…"
Seeing Priestess take care of Wizard, Fighter got back to her feet and ran to help her childhood friend deal with the goblins they'd been sent to slay. At least, that was the plan until a blade nearly hit her in the face and forced her to stop a few feet away from the fight. "Stop swinging that thing around willy-nilly! I can't get close enough to help you!" she shouted.
Panic, inexperience, and little training mixed with rage clouded Warrior's judgement, the rookie adventurer swinging his longsword around at the goblins. While its length kept them at bay, it forced his teammate to do the same. Not taking his eyes of his enemies, Warrior told Fighter "You stay back there and protect the rest of our group! I'll take care of these bastards!" as he swung his blade once again.
Another swing and he managed to cut off the arm of one of the goblins, the stump spewing dark blood as the owner screeched in pain before falling over. Pulling his sword close, Warrior charged and impaled another one through its chest. Unfortunately, it left him vulnerable and further surrounded by the others, and he missed any major organs that would've instantly killed it.
The still-living goblin quickly took advantage of the situation to stab him in his unarmored thigh with a dagger it had. Warrior was forced to fight through the pain and desire to kneel down and instead pushed as hard as he could to get the goblin off his sword. It looked up at him, drooling and grinning despite being half-dead, for the few seconds it took Warrior to raise his sword and slam it into the goblin's skull.
Turning around, he spotted another one running at him from behind. Even angrier at the attempted sneak attack, he swung his sword into the air with a shout of "You're the next one down!"
CLANG!
In his haste and overall unpreparedness for their quest, Warrior neglected to bring a sword more suited to confined spaces. This prevented him from avoiding the stalactites with his longsword's too-long blade. Whatever bravado he had was instantly replaced with his blood turning into ice when he felt his sword being knocked out his hand. Time seemed to slow down as he looked around with his eyes, seeing the numerous goblins he'd held back were all now leaping at him with their own weapons drawn.
He was tackled to the cave ground, longsword hitting the ground less than a second later out of reach, and promptly mauled by the goblins. Clubs, spears, daggers, and whatever other weapons the goblins had on-hand made short work of the rookie as he fought briefly to get back up. His screams faded to faint whimpers as one goblin pinned his right arm down and slammed an axe into it, severing the limb instantly and forcing one last scream out of Warrior before slowly falling silent.
The sight of the separated appendage being proudly held up in the air by the goblin made Fighter gasp in horror, not helped by Priestess speaking behind her.
"I don't understand," she whimpered. "I used healing on her, but she's not getting better."
Her childhood friend still getting butchered, and the hopelessness of the situation, pushed Fighter into yanking off her satchel and tossing it to the ground. Standing between the little green monsters and the other two girls, she clenched her fists and steeled herself. "Take her and get yourselves out of here!"
Priestess looked to Fighter in shock. "But what about you!?" she said.
"I can still fight!" Fighter shouted as she ran to do just that.
Landing in front of the group of goblins that finally stopped their assault on Warrior's remains, she growled as they looked on at what would be another breeder once they'd beaten the fight out of her. One goblin licked its lips and jumped at her with a blood-covered dagger but was quickly taken out by a powerful punch to the torso by the rookie martial artist. Swinging her leg through the air, she hit two goblins and sent them head-first into the cavern wall.
Her father had trained her since she was a little girl in the art of fighting that had been passed down for generations. She still remembered the smiles he'd given her at their temple as she copied his movements, rushing the air around them out of their way. Sadly, sickness would take him when she was only a teenager and not yet finished with her training.
It was only a few days before she'd her village left with Warrior to sign up at the Guild that she'd visited him, buried in the temple's garden where he and her mother had married. Paying her respects, she'd promised him that she'd used the skills he'd been able to teach her to save everyone she could.
She knew it's what he would've wanted.
She silently prayed for him to watch over her in her time of need as she punched and kicked at the goblins focused on her. She felt something coming up from behind her and, fueled by adrenaline, swung her foot around in another kick.
Her attack was quickly intercepted, and the giant hobgoblin simply caught her foot in one hand.
She looked up at the new goblin type, far bigger than the other ones they'd been dealing with. It stared back, mouth drooling as if she were a piece of meat and growled back at her. Not satisfied with simply holding her in place, it slowly began to rotate the wrist of the arm that held her limb.
Pain quickly came over Fighter's face as her limb was twisted. Left in such a vulnerable position that she wasn't strong enough to break out of, she grunted, "Let go… My leg!" She only became more fearful for her life as she felt the hob's grip tighten and tense up.
"Hey, melon-nose!"
The surprised hobgoblin briefly put off slamming the female into the wall and leave her for its brethren to take care of long enough to look over its shoulder and figure out who had dared insult it. This proved to be its undoing as, unbeknownst to it, the caller was in the complete opposite direction of where it looked. It saw only the empty tunnel of the cave before its world went blank, and the creature itself went limp.
Fighter had only barely seen something whizz over her before it embedded itself in the back of the hob's turned head. It lost its grip on her boot as it twisted and fell over and caused Fighter to fall off-balance. She stared at the thing that nearly could have killed her and quickly backed away from it on her hands and heels. Her back hitting the cave wall broke her focus on the corpse and back to the remaining goblins.
Though they too briefly looked at the fallen giant of their kind, their attention was quickly brought back to the terrified martial artist when they inhaled her ripe scent. Looking to her, they all began to move in her direction. One impatient goblin launched itself over the others and attached itself to Fighter's robes, tightly gripping the material as it tried to rip it off.
She managed to keep it off her enough that it wasn't able to completely grab her clothing, but it kept her arms occupied as the others closed in. Knowing what was about to happen to her, she started to cry. "S-Someone, please! Help us!"
Her wish was granted by a glowing orb coming from the direction they'd come from and planting itself on the ceiling. The goblins' night vision turned against them as they were blinded by the light. Even the one on top of her let go to shield its eyes giving her the chance to throw it at the others.
Rapid thumps came from the side, and Fighter looked to see… something running in her direction as it threw something to the side before pulling something out from a sheath, most likely a sword. She screamed at the nightmarish thing running at her before covering her face not wanting to see the blow that would end her life. She sent another silent but desperate plea to her father, begging him to not let her be killed on her first quest.
It seemed that she didn't need to pray, however; as the ball of light illuminated what appeared to be an evil-looking suit of armor, it ran up and delivered a lethal kick with its sharp boots to a goblin that had been reaching for her pants before it was blinded. Sending into the wall opposite of them, the armor held up its hand and projected a stream of flames at the group of goblins. Some of them were caught in the blast and burned, but the magical fire was soon directed to the floor to form a blazing barrier between the rookies and the suit.
Having bought all of them some time, Fighter looked up to their savior and was immediately wondering if a demon had been controlling the nest, and if it wanted them for something else or for itself that the goblins would've ruined had it not stepped in.
The armor was a shiny black with some thin white or silver trimming, and it had some sort of red glow coming from underneath the protective plating on its chest and limbs. Jagged spikes with a small amount of gold on the tips formed the shoulder guards, and the armored gauntlets had clawed fingers that looked to be built-in weapons. Finally, the horned helmet looked down at her, the design of the faceplate mixed with the glowing red orbs making it seem as if an evil was staring directly into her soul.
A sword with a similar jagged design was held in the right hand, leaving its left free to reach down towards Fighter. Frozen in place, she could only clench her eyes shut and turn her head to the side. Hopefully it would be kind enough to leave something that was worthy of a burial.
"Get up!"
Fighter opened her eyes in time to see the suit grab her by the bicep and quickly pull her to her feet. She stumbled a bit, especially with her weight suddenly being supported with her sore leg, but the suit helped stabilize her. It looked her over briefly before moving its hand from her arm to her back and leading her back to the other two remaining members of her group. It pushed hard enough to keep her moving, but not hard enough to knock her over or be considered too aggressive.
Standing over Wizard and Priestess, it flipped its sword to hold it in a reverse grip before planting it in the ground and kneeling beside the wounded magic user. It looked at her face, glossy with sweat and tears, and immediately began digging through the pouch at its side that none of them had seen until now.
"W-Who are y-you?" Priestess whimpered at the sight of the dark warrior, but something was telling her that despite its very menacing appearance it was a source of good.
"The Nord working to help you stay alive. What happened to her?" It replied as it stopped digging through the pouch and looked to the cleric for an answer.
"W-We were ambushed, a-and one of the goblins managed to stab her. I-I used a miracle, but she's still dying!" Priestess answered.
The suit went back to its pouch for a couple seconds before pulling out three potions. Two smaller ones with a red liquid were held by the necks between the suit's fingers while the other hand had a slightly larger bottle with a darker red liquid and a brown piece of paper circling the body. It quickly glanced at the wall of flames keeping them safe before shoving the bottles to Priestess.
"Those flames aren't going to last much longer. Give her these, and then both of you help her out of the cave. Wait for me by the entrance because I'll need your help," it said before standing up and pulling its sword out of the ground.
"Wait, by yourself?!" Fighter said in disbelief.
"Your leg is going to keep you from fighting your best, and I'd feel better if you were there to protect the other two and flag down anyone who might come by. I'll be fine, just hurry up and get moving!" it demanded.
Priestess did as she was told. She grabbed the smaller potions first, barely managed to open them with her shaky hands, and tilted Wizard's head to allow the liquid to pass down her throat. She did it with the second one, and then with the larger bottle. She tossed the three empty bottles to the side and, with Fighter's help, lifted Wizard off the ground. Picking up her staff, the three started heading out the way they came.
Fighter stopped to glance over her shoulder for a second and saw that the armored figure—identifying itself as a "Nord"—stood in front of the flames, sword still out and waiting. She didn't want to leave it, or rather, him, to fight the goblins alone, but she didn't want to disobey him either. Reluctantly, she turned back and continued out of the cave.
The Dragonborn, now alone in standing in front of the dying flames, readied himself. He could see that there weren't that many goblins left in the cave, or at least not in this area. With the big one that had grabbed that martial artist dead and no other mages or whatever the goblins called them around, the grunts were the only ones left. Even better, there only seemed to be maybe six or seven of them left. He might've been a bit hasty in sending the three others away, but a second thought told him that it was still a good idea to get their wounded comrade out.
That, and these things were clearly winning over them through numbers alone.
The flames were now really burning out, and a few bolder goblins had started to jump over the magical barricade to get at the warrior that cost them their fun. Like all the others, their weapons were crude and worthless, especially against his armor, but something told him that they were going to try and get the women back more than they were interested in killing him. Keeping that in mind, The Dragonborn approached with his Daedric sword and newly summoned shield.
The first goblin swung its axe with all its might, but it only succeeded in breaking the low-quality weapon against its opponent's shield. It glanced down at the splintered stump of its weapon long enough for The Dragonborn to raise his sword in the air and then bring it down when the goblin looked up at him in disbelief. The two halves of goblin fell to the ground with a sickening thud, and he immediately swung his blade diagonally. The second goblin was cut up instantly.
A small bundle of fire appeared in his hand, and he aimed at three more goblins. Fire spewed from his hands and roasted them again, but this time they couldn't simply stand away from the source. Cooking flesh filled The Dragonborn's nostrils through his helmet, and he kept Flames up until he couldn't see them moving anymore.
One left. Where was—
THUNK!
The last goblin had flanked him and stabbed the joint of his leg armor. Fortunately, the broken dagger it was stuck with wasn't able to get to him through the chainmail protecting his more mobile areas. Unarmed, the goblin was about to run when it was grabbed and lifted up by the head. It grabbed The Dragonborn's wrist and attempted to claw its way out, but it did little more than hurt itself and annoy him. "Ugly little toad," was the last thing it heard as The Dragonborn moved it to the side before swinging it the opposite way and into the cave wall. Its head was pulverized into paste between the wall and the armored hand.
Seeing no more goblins alive, The Dragonborn kneeled to get the broken weapon out of his armor. He pulled it out with a little effort before tossing it to the side. Looking over where the dagger had been, he saw no damage nor anything out of place until something hitting the ground behind him grasped his attention.
His head snapped around, ready to start punching in case more goblins had shown up, just in time to see the body of a goblin roll on the ground. Its arm was missing, and it had been killed by a knife to its throat. He didn't use any knives since he had been magically sent to the cave.
"That's one," someone said.
He stood up and faced the tunnel that the three girls had left when he prepared to fight the goblins. A man in simple metal plate and chainmail armor with leather joints stood near the entrance to the small area The Dragonborn had fought in. A helmet with five slits for vison covered his head, and he wore a buckler on his right arm along with a torch in hand. Several throwing knives were held to his torso, and a short sword in a makeshift scabbard sat on his hip. Finally, he wore a belt with a few equipment pouches on it.
The two men stared at each other for a second before the newer arrival approached him.
The Dragonborn grabbed his sword from the ground where he'd set it and said, "Thanks for the save. Who are you?"
"Goblin Slayer," was the answer.
"OK, 'Goblin Slayer', did you see—"
"Hey, we're here."
Behind Goblin Slayer, the three girls came into view. Now that they weren't in danger, The Dragonborn could take the time to look them over. The first one looked like some sort of priestess, with white and blue robes, hat, and a staff that looked more for ceremony or appearance than functioning as a weapon. The second one was much simpler: a robe-like top with a yellow scarf and pants tucked into sturdy leather boots. The third and final girl, arm around the second girl's shoulders, wore the robes and hat of a typical wizard and seemed to be somewhat squinting as she held her hand against the side she'd been injured on.
The Dragonborn approached them, Goblin Slayer walking past him as well, and looked at Wizard. "How are you holdin' up?"
"Still sore, but at least I'm alive. Thanks," she said.
"No problem. Always carry a supply of medical potions even if I don't need them much myself," The Dragonborn said. Then he looked at the two of them and asked, "Hey, where'd that girl in the white and blue go? Also, did you have a guy with—"
The sounds of someone retching behind them pulled The Dragonborn's attention to them. Priestess was doubled over and wiping her mouth with her sleeve.
"What's wrong?" he asked as he walked over to her. "Are you…" His voice trailed off as he saw what had made Priestess empty her stomach.
The male of their group had fallen to the goblins, and the condition of his corpse was further proof that the goblins relied on numbers and overwhelming attacks in direct combat. His torso had been bashed, sliced open, and pulverized to the point that the only real recognizable part of it was the cheap metal chest plate he'd worn, and it seemed to have just added to the damage of their blows. One of his arms had been sliced off and tossed to the side, and his head…
If The Dragonborn hadn't seen some blood-soaked hair and the remains of a headband connected to the mess, he wouldn't have been able to identify that what was exposed was the smashed bits of skull and brain of the young warrior. He gently pulled Priestess away from the sight of her fallen comrade before kneeling over him. "Talos guide you…" he whispered as he pulled out an old tunic and covered him up. It was all he could really do for him.
"Can you…" One of them, Fighter, had spoken behind him. "Can you h-hand me his sword? I-I want to be able to d-deliver it back to his family in… our village."
Looking back to the ground, The Dragonborn spotted the sword in question. He picked it up and looked it over. It seemed to be an everyday steel longsword, one too long to use in this area. He stood back up and walked over to Fighter. "Not a good weapon to use in a tight area like this. Did he not have anything else?" he questioned.
Fighter looked down. "No. We were in such a rush to get here that we didn't stop to pick up anything besides what we already had when we took the quest. Not that we could've afforded it…" she admitted.
"P-Plus, we figured that we'd be in and out with no problems. Goblins are one of the weakest creatures Adventurers can face," Wizard added. She slightly winced when she felt him glance at her wound before looking back at them.
"It doesn't matter what you're fighting; when you enter somewhere where something lives or claims, it has homefield advantage. Not to mention that going out hunting or fighting without any sort of healing or medical aid is a very easy way to get killed!" The Dragonborn scolded them. "How did this happen, anyway?"
"14. Let me guess: They attacked you from behind," Goblin Slayer said as he approached the group. Upon confirmation from Priestess and Wizard, he used his torch to reveal a path next to the one the team had come from. "It's a dark cave. If all you have is a torch, this would just look like a shadow on the wall. And that's what you were looking at." He turned and used the torch to light up a totem of some kind with bones and a cow skull on top. "It's a common mistake for rookies."
Priestess' mind went back to when her and her group were walking through the tunnel, just before they were attacked. She'd been nervous and worried the whole time, much to Wizard's ire, and had accidentally separated the two of them from Fighter and Warrior when she stopped walking. Asking if her teammate had heard sounds behind them led to her being condescendingly questioned by the spellcaster until they were ambushed.
'At that moment… we were already….' she thought.
"It's just as I suspected." The Dragonborn interrupted her thoughts. "What these goblins generally lack in strength and endurance they make up for in numbers and tactics, even if they're not the smartest. Definitely not the same ones from Cyrodiil."
"Correct," Goblin Slayer said. "They're not bright creatures, but they're not fools, either."
Priestess looked at The Dragonborn in confusion. "What's Cyrodiil?"
"I'll tell you later after we get out of here," he replied.
"That would be best. This totem means that this horde is being led by a shaman, a powerful spellcaster. How many of you came here?" Goblin Slayer said.
"There were four of us until…" Fighter glanced over to the covered remains of Warrior.
"I was by myself, but you said this horde was being led by a spellcaster? Wears a hood and attacks with magic and staves?" The Dragonborn asked.
"Yes. Did you come across it?" Goblin Slayer answered and asked his own question.
The Dragonborn quickly headed to the side tunnel that the goblins ambushed the Greenhorn Team from. "It and a few others. They were down this way with a few girls that they'd been… having 'fun' with. I'm not the best person on Tamriel, but even I wasn't about to keep them alive after what I saw them doing," he explained as the others followed him.
"Good," Fighter said, still carrying Wizard. "The four of us came here on a quest from the Guild to clear the nest and save them. Sorry for letting you do all the hard work."
"No problem. You needed the help."
They proceeded down the tunnel to the main room of the cave and goblin nest. Fighter, Wizard, and Priestess looked around at the carnage that the armored man had left behind. The shaman, head split in have and leaking brain matter, sat on one side of the cave against the wall. Another laid face down under a splash of blood trailing from the wall it collided with. Finally, two more were stacked on top of each other with the bottom one missing everything above its lower jaw and forearms. The top one had a bleeding hole on its face where something had been jammed inside and then viciously pulled out.
Goblin Slayer went around the room and tallied the kills up while the three girls went over to the goblin's hostages. They'd been covered up with various sheets and fabrics by the youngest, the only one that seemed to be aware now that her abusers were no more. They were huddled around a burning torch that she was holding. She looked over at the new arrivals and their dark-armored savior.
"Y-You left this torch behind when… you went after the o-others. W-We would've given it to you before you left, b-but…" she spoke nervously.
The Dragonborn simply raised his hand. "Don't worry, you can hold onto it for now. Eternal Flame doesn't burn out, and it gives off more heat to the holder and those around them then a normal torch. Plus, I packed more than just the one. Is everyone OK?"
She nodded her head. "We're OK. Is it safe, now?"
"It should be." He turned to the ones who were sent here. "Get them out of here while I look around a bit. Might be able to find something useful."
"Like this?" Goblin Slayer spoke up.
Looking to where he stood, everyone could see a cracked formation in the cave ceiling. What stood out was the very dim glow and the smoke that emitted from it. While Wizard, Fighter, and Priestess helped the hostages out of the room and the rest of the cave, The Dragonborn stood under the display and looked over it. Unfortunately, it soon lost the glow and the smoking stopped, leaving him to wonder what it meant besides where he fell from when he checked that Altmer scroll.
Priestess came back. "The girls are safe outside, sir. Did you find anything about… what that was?"
The Dragonborn looked at her and was about to speak when Goblin Slayer interrupted with "18. Did you look around for any hidden doors?"
"No, I heard their group making noises and went to check it out and help. I was going to look when I came back. Why?" The Dragonborn said as he approached Goblin Slayer.
The silver-ranked adventurer kicked the remains of the shaman's throne to the side, revealing a crude wooden door blocking off a section of the room. Opening it and reaching in with his torch, the light provided allowed the two other people in the room to see what he had been looking for.
The whimpering forms of goblin children pressing themselves against the wall to get away from the intruders.
Priestess gasped at the sight. "Children…"
"They multiply quickly. Had the nest been left alone much longer, there might've been a horde of 50 waiting for us down here," Goblin Slayer explained.
"The youngest of those girls, she said that they capture women to increase their numbers. I admit, I wasn't entirely sure I believed her, but this…" The Dragonborn said before trailing off.
The Falmer bred fast amongst themselves, enough to repopulate abandoned Dwarven ruins and caves rather quickly, but these things had only had the four girls for a few days if she wasn't mistaken. These were an entirely new creature.
"They do, and we were lucky," Goblin Slayer said as he stepped into the little room.
"A-Are you going to kill them?" Priestess asked nervously.
"Of course, I am. These animals hold on to grudges for life. Any survivors of a nest would learn from the mistakes of the dead and adapt."
Priestess felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking over to The Dragonborn, he nodded. "It's hard, but he's right. Showing them mercy would just lead to more people being killed, and worse. Believe me, I know."
Memories of the occasional time he was unfortunate enough to stumble across baby Falmer flashed through his head. The one time he took his eyes off them was the time he took a rock to the back of his head. His helmet was dented by the attack, and he kept it as a reminder of the time he misjudged something so small as not a threat.
"But what if there was a good goblin? They might exist?" Priestess asked as Goblin Slayer stood over the children with a club in raised in the air. Desperation could be heard in her voice.
Goblin Slayer looked at the fearful eyes focused on him. "Maybe. If you looked hard, you might be able to find one. But in the end, the only good goblins are the ones who never show their faces to the light of day." With that, he brought down his weapon.
Priestess could only wrap herself around The Dragonborn and sob into his chest plate. Doing his best to ignore the children's screams as they were killed one by one, he allowed Priestess to bring them down to their knees as she held onto him for comfort.
He could only hug her back, whispering, "It's all right, let it out." He cursed himself for being unable to do more for her.
When Goblin Slayer was finished, he walked past the two of them as his club dripped blood onto the ground. He simply said, "That makes 22," as he made his way out of the room.
"The girls will be taken care of there, right?" The Dragonborn asked as he walked down the trail with Priestess.
Fighter and Wizard stayed with the wagon that took the girls from the cave to the nearby temple where they'd be treated for the trauma they'd gotten from the goblins. They'd meet them back at the Guild.
"Yes," she confirmed. Then sadly added, "This happens more often than you'd think. A group of adventurers, like us, thinks that goblins would be an easy quest to clear before moving on to more challenging monsters. But, sometimes, the goblins prove to be more than they could handle. The party is wiped out, sometimes with maybe one survivor who saves the girls from being used as the goblins' playthings further.
"They're taken to the temple and treated as best as possible. Some recover, others… don't. That one adventurer might slip away from the world and never leave home again. It happens every day, or so I think. Knowing it first-hand, can I maintain my faith in the Earth Mother? I don't know, but that's why I want to continue being an adventurer." Priestess said.
"By the Nine… Well, you're a strong girl for wanting to continue. It can't be easy," The Dragonborn said.
"Thank you,"
They continued in silence for a while, until "You're not from around here, are you?"
The Dragonborn sighed. "No, I'm not. I don't have time to explain everything about my home right now, but I can tell you how I got here. I'm with the Imperial Legion, the military force of the Empire of Tamriel. We were at war with the Aldmeri Dominion and were looking through one of their temples for a supposed weapon we could use to end the fighting. The soldiers and I stumbled across a scroll; one I'd never seen before. When I opened it up and tried to read it, it pulled me into some sort of vortex and teleported me to that cave. Hopefully I'll be able to find out where it's located compared to here and get back before the Thalmor get too desperate."
Priestess looked at him strangely.
"The Thalmor? Altmer extremists that formed the Third Aldmeri Dominion and have been enemies of the Empire for at least 30 years, if not more?"
Priestess's expression didn't change.
"I'll... tell you more about it some other time."
"…I-I see," Priestess said even if she still couldn't believe something so outrageous.
They continued on until they reached the town that Priestess and her team had come from. She told him the place was called "Frontier Town", and that she could take him to the Adventurer's Guild where he might be able to find some answers.
They walked through the town as people went about their daily lives. Many stopped what they were doing as The Dragonborn walked past them and gained their attention. Whispers could be heard, mostly about what he was clad with, but he didn't bother sticking around long enough to explain it. No one had the courage to ask him about it, either.
Soon enough they arrived at a larger building. The sign above the double doors serving as the entrance read "Adventurers' Guild". They'd arrived. The Dragonborn was about to enter when Priestess stopped him.
"You'll probably attract some attention from the others when you go inside." She pointed to his armor.
"Don't worry. I'm used to people staring at my appearance. Daedric armor isn't something everyone wears," he said as he brushed off her concerns.
He then pushed open one of the doors for the two of them before she could ask what he meant by "Daedric".
The Guild was bustling with adventurers of various ranks. Some sat at tables eating, drinking, and talking about their latest conquests. Others stood around filling out forms or looking over the quest board. All of them seemed to ignore the two of them entering until a couple of people looked over at the entrance instinctively. They got one look at the heavily armored warrior and then pointed him out to a few others nearby. Pretty soon a good chunk of the people in the room were staring at him.
Priestess and The Dragonborn stared back. "You said 'some attention'?"
Priestess could only nervously chuckle.
Fortunately, Wizard and Fighter stood at the front desk and noticed who had come in. They waved him over to them as Goblin Slayer talked with the blonde receptionist. Ignoring the continued stares, the two walked over to the front where Fighter pulled The Dragonborn over.
"Here. He's the one who helped us on the quest," She introduced him to the receptionist.
Guild Girl was briefly taken aback by his appearance before returning to her professional demeanor. "I see. Thank you for assisting them on their quest."
"Just helping people who were in danger. I'm sorry I wasn't able to help Warrior, though. The goblins got him before I arrived," The Dragonborn said.
"Goblin Slayer and the others gave me their reports on the quest. Once again, thank you. The Guild will make sure his next of kin is informed."
"I can do it. I'm friends with his family," Fighter said with determination.
"Very well. I'll make the necessary preparations."
Guild Girl went back to get the necessary forms. While she was gone, Priestess turned back to The Dragonborn. "So… what will you do now?" she asked.
He looked down at the desk in thought. He didn't have an immediate way to get back to Skyrim, and he'd need access to the resources to learn more about this new world and the dangers it possessed. Plus, if those goblins were more wide-spread and putting more people in danger…
"Maybe you should become an adventurer? You've got the equipment and fighting experience to survive. Heh, you'd become Gold in no time. Maybe even Platinum!" Fighter said with a grin.
Platinum? Must be some kind of rank or identification.
"That's not a bad idea, actually. I'm already involved in the Companions—a famous group of fighters—back home. This guild could be useful for learning about where I ended up," he said.
Everyone agreed. Goblin Slayer was more neutral about it, but it seemed like he was onboard.
As if on cue, Guild Girl came back with a small stack of papers. She brought them over for Fighter to fill out before The Dragonborn approached her. "Oh, hi. Can I help you?" she asked.
"Well… yes. What benefits does this organization provide? No offense, but I'd imagine combat training isn't one of them," he said. He wanted more information before officially signing on.
"Well… no, but there are other benefits provided to members of the Guild. Discounted food, access to medical care that is on par with the Capitol's best, and easy access to goods and services rarely found elsewhere. Perhaps most important of all, official adventurers are the only ones allowed access to information pertaining to quests and missions. Official policy states that we're not supposed to hand out certain quests to those under a specific rank, but the central office has yet to properly update the skill level needed for specific quests," Guild Girl explained with some sadness at the end.
"And because of that, some quests are taken by people who are simply not experienced nor equipped to handle them?" he questioned.
Guild Girl's hesitant response was a simple "Yes."
"I see. I'm assuming that because of that, this Guild's recruitment process isn't… particularly selective, then?"
Guild Girl perked up a bit. "That is correct. Due to the continuing struggle between good and evil, the mortality rates among adventurers are high. The Guild is constantly looking for capable people to help keep up with the number of quests we receive on a daily basis. Are you interested?"
"If it means being able to take on more of those goblins, then I'll sign up," he answered.
"Excellent! I have the paperwork right here. Can you read and write?" she asked as she pulled out the recruitment forms.
"Yes, assuming the language here is similar to Tamrielic." He took the offered paper and looked it over. Thank Talos it seemed to be the same language, or one extremely close to it.
He took the offered quill and inkwell before sitting down at a nearby table and began to fill it out.
Name: Dovahkiin
Sorry about the wait for this chapter. Work ended up getting in the way of my spare time, and a bit of writer's block on what direction I wanted to go for the ending.
EDIT: Shout Out to Zhorvak for pointing out the "came from another world" problem between Priestess and Dovahkiin. I'll admit I typed it up that way because I was in a rush to get the chapter posted and the next one started. I went and changed it a bit, hope it looks better.
Next up, Chapter 2: No Longer Unheard.