Warning: surprise encounter triggered!

Also, this one's a little bit darker than you may be expecting.

Married Life

Chapter Ten: Ill Met By Moonlight

It was getting late when the Party reached the Inn of the Dancing Cow, a well-known stop-off on the crossroads where the road between Frontier Town and Water Town met the road between the Capital and the distant mountains of the far north. The Inn was Guild approved, meaning that the food was decent, the drink wasn't watered down and they weren't likely to be robbed in their sleep. They'd stopped there on their last visit to Water Town, but back then it had been quiet, while now there was a number of wagons parked in a circle across the road, which was odd, because there was plenty of room in the courtyard for them.

Something about the wagons and the way they were arranged didn't sit well with High Elf Archer, making the tips of her ears twitch, something they only did when there was danger close. She found herself taking Goblin Slayers hand, something she'd never done on a Quest before,and she forced herself to let go before anyone noticed. Dwarf Shaman was first to enter the Inn itself, already talking about what he intended to order for dinner. He stopped dead in his tracks when he felt the cold, confrontational air in the room and he took a moment to look around.

The Innkeeper and his wife were stood behind the bar, their hands raised in surrender as two masked men rummaged through the cash box, counting out the coins within. A third man stood with a pair of crossbows, keeping watch over the few patrons while a forth went from table to table, collecting coin purses and jewellery and placing them in a large bag. Screams from upstairs hinted at adrker deeds than simple robbery at work, and a fifth man emerged onto the landing, followed by two more dragging a pair of teenage girls behind them. Dwarf Shaman recognised them as the Innkeepers daughters.

"Looks like it's not a total loss after all, boys!" He called down to those below, "These two should fetch a fair price, especially if they're untouched."

Enraged, the Innkeeper made to run for the stairs, only to take a croosbow bolt to the shoulder the dropped him to the ground. A couple of the braver customers looked ready to come to his aid, but the man with the crossbows shook his head.

"Nobody has to die here tonight." he announced, "Just let us take our fill and we'll be gone."

Priestess gasped, and the bandits looked round, noticing the Adventurers for the first time. Goblin Slayer was standing in the middle, and his cheap looking armour and weapons gave him the look of a rookie. The bandits jeered, thinking that their luck had improved, especially when they saw High Elf Archer and Priestess among the group.

"Morce chickens for the pot." The man on the balcony proclaimed, "I know a man who pays top price for clerics. And Elves are always in high demand."

His companions laughed, but Goblin Slayer took a step forward, his hand resting on the pummel of his sword.

"No." his voice was low, but somehow it carried around the room, and suddenly all eyes were on him.

"Well lads, looks like we've got ourselves a genuine hero here." the bandit leader proclaimed, making his men laugh even harder, "A Knight In Shining Armour, only his armour ain't so shiny."

"Don't make them angry!" One of the patrons pleaded, "Just let them take what they want and go."

"No." Goblin Slayer repeated, "Slave traders are even worse than goblins: at least they can't be expected to know better."

"Lord Goblin Slayer is right." Lizard Priest snarled, his body straining, ready for the fight, "They're Non-Prayer Characters! They deserve no mercy."

"You talk big for someone who's out-manned and covered from an elevated position." the crossbow wielder snapped, bringing his still loaded weapon round to bear.

If he ws expecting the Adventurera to respond, he was out of luck. The moment he started to move his weapon, Goblin Slayer started to draw his sword. But rather than brandish it, he flung it forward, the deceptively sharp blade slicing into the bandits chest, cutting his heart in two. High Elf Archer saw her husband start to move, so had two arrows notched and drawn before the slavers even knew what was happening. Aiming high, she loosed them the moment she was sure of her aim, and they struck two of the bandits on the balcony in the shoulder, pinning them to the wall and taking them out of the fight.

The man with the sack drew a dagger and charged, only to lose his entire arm to Lizard Priesta long, curved sword. The shock of suddenly losing a limb startled him, and he was unable to react as the reptiles long tail snapped round and knocked him off his feet. The two men who'd been ransacking the bar jumped over the counter top, drawing their swords, but Dwarf Shaman was waiting. He flung an axe with each hand, carefully timing it so they each took the butt of the handle to the head, knock what little sense they had out of them. Seeing his men taken out in a matter of seconds, the apparent leader produced a throwing dagger and flung it at Goblin Slayer with all the strength he could muster, but he wasn't as quick as all Priestess, who quickly cast Protection, stopping the weapon mid flight.

The fight, if you could call it that, was over in less than a minute, leaving only the Bandit Leader standing on his side. He looked around the room, hoping against hope that what he saw wasn't true, that his mean weren't all dead or incapacitated. His eyes fell upon Goblin Slayer, who remained exactly where he had been standing, having not even drawn his dagger. The Adventurer looked up at his opponent, rage filling his eyes as he looked around for anything to use as a weapon. He was so distracted that he didn't notice the two young girls whose bodies he'd been so willing to sell as they got behind him and pushed as hard as they could. The Innkeeper prided himself in how well he maintained his premises, so the banister didn't break as the outlaw stumbled into it. But it did force his centre of gravity to shift, sending him tumbling over the railing. He had time to let out a scream, his arms flailing wildly as he fell through the air and hit the flagstone floor headfirst with a sickening crack: it wasn't necessary to check to see if he was alive, not with his head bent at such an unusual angle.

There was a moment of silence broken only by the moans of those bandits who had only been incapacitated, then the Innkeepers wife bolted for the stairs, taking them two at a time and embracing her daughters. This spurred the other former hostages into action, and they quickly collected the dropped weapons and set about securing the surviving slavers. Priestess made her way over to the Innkeeper, carefully removing the crossbow bolt from his shoulder before casting Minor Heal to close the wound and deaden the pain. It looked to be a clean hit, and she felt sure that there was no reason why he shouldn't recover in due time.

"The wagons outside." High Elf Archer hissed, turning for the door even as she drew a fresh arrow from her quiver. Goblin Slayer recovered his sword from the man he'd killed, checking the blade while Dwarf Shaman collected his axes. With a nod from Lizard Priest, the four Adventurers stepped out into the night.

There was no obvious sign of anyone on guard over the makeshift camp, but they still spread out and approached with caution, making use of the darkness to mask their movements. Goblin Slayer spotted the lone bandit on watch first, but he hesitated before killing him while his back was turned: he was little more than a boy, the massive pike he held shaking in his hands. It was clear from his body language that he was afraid, more likely to mess his britches than put up a fight, so Goblin Slayer simply stepped behind him and but the edge of his sword to his neck.

"The others are all dead." he spoke matter of factly, "Drop your weapon or join them."

High Elf Archer stepped from the shadows, bow at the ready, as if the underline her husbands point. The boy looked at her, his grey eyes wide with terror and he let go the pike, the weapon walling to the ground with a loud clang.

"Any others?" Goblin Slayer asked, and the boy shook his head, unable to make a sound.

High Elf Archer, Dwarf Shaman and Lizard Priest went from wagon to wagon, carefully making sure that he was telling the truth. The Ranger reached the final cart, a large, heavily built coach with bared windows and a locked door. The iron padlock shattered under a blow from Dwarf Shamans axe, and High Elf Archer looked inside. Six women, dressed in dirty rags that had once been everyday cloths, sat huddled at the far end. Their eyes held a mixture of fear and resignation, a stark indication of the horrors they had been forced to endure.

"Orcbolg was right." the Ranger whispered, "Worse than goblins."

To Be Continued...