Time for a change of prospective, and a chance to get inside the head of our favourite goblin exterminator.

Because why not?

Fertility Rite

Chapter Two: How To Mend A Broken Soul

Goblin Slayer made his way along the candlelit hallway, deep in thought.

High Elf Archer's words had been cryptic, usually a sign that she was planning something. Even before their wedding, he'd become use to her plotting and scheming behind his back, usually trying to come up with new ways to get him to agree to taking Quests that didn't involve killing goblins. And even back then, he'd found it hard to go against her wishes. Hell, he wouldn't be married, with fatherhood on the horizon, if he was able to say no to the women in his life. It was probably the memory of his sister that left him with the need to make those closest to him happy. And it wasn't like he was unhappy with his marriage: he loved each of his wives more than life itself, but if he was totally honest with himself, it wasn't a life he would have chosen.

He was self aware enough to know that he was... different than most people, even his fellow Adventurers. A healer he'd once met had told him that the mind could be hurt just like the body, even if the scars couldn't be seen, and much like the body, some injuries to the mind may never heal. The loss of his parents had happened when he was too young to fully understand what was happening, but he'd been older when the goblins had attacked, had seen with his own two eyes what they had done to his sister before killing her. Had he not been there, or just been a little smaller, she would have been able to hide with him, may have survived. Those thoughts had kept him awake many nights when he was younger, had plagued his nightmares for years.

But he hadn't had a single nightmare, not one sleepless night, since his wedding.

Something about being around people who loved him unconditionally, who not only accepted but embarrassed the odder aspect of his personality, was slowly fixing the damage that had been done that accused night. It had terrified him at first, even before they'd confronted him with their mad, unworkable plan to marry him, when he'd first realised that he'd started to let people through the walls he'd built up around him. He'd told himself that keeping everyone at a distance, never letting himself care for anyone, would protect him from being hurt again. But then he'd gone to live on the same farm as Cow Girl, the only link to his old life. At the time he'd told himself that it was just easier to rent that old barn from someone he knew, who wouldn't ask questions his endless training or prepping. But she'd been the first chink in his mental armour, an unknown weakness that had slowly started to arose his defense.

Then had come Guild Girl, who saw beyond his dented helmet and scruffy armour to see the man beneath it. She'd been the first person in Frontier Town to no think he was just some crazy loner with a hatred of goblins. He knew, although she'd never said anything, that she had pushed for his promotion to Silver rank. Yes, the Adventurers Guild appreciated his relentless one man war on goblins, the people he saved, the villages he rescued, the inexperienced Adventurers who lived because he'd taken the jobs that could have been their demise. But even that wouldn't have been enough to tip the scales without Guild Girl there to champion his cause. No matter what anyone else at the Guild Hall had said or done, she'd always been happy to see him, a single ray of warm sunshine in a cold world. She'd made him see himself as more than a sword for hire.

Priestess was different. In some ways, she was also damaged by her first encounter with goblins. She'd seen two members of her original party killed, the third beaten and violated by the very same goblins they'd been sent to hunt. She herself had been injured, physically and mentally, but unlike so many others, she hadn't been broken. Instead she found within her a strength she didn't know she possessed, and like a blade before a whetstone, she had sharpened her wits and her skills under his tutelage. He knew that she thought she was in love with him, and would gladly have joined his marriage if he'd asked, sacrificing what remained of her innocence to him. But in many ways she was closer to a little sister than a lover in his mind, even if he had found himself caring for her. She made him see himself as worthy of respect.

Last but never least was High Elf Archer, the exotic beauty who'd made it her life's work to force him out of his comfort zone, forcing him to see more of the world than just endless goblin nests. She wanted to show him the world of high adventure that she'd dreamed of when she was younger, to help him become the hero they all thought he could be. Her simple joy at discovering something new was almost infectious, a delirium he never wanted to recover from. If the others had stopped him sinking deeper into his obsession, it was his beloved elvan Ranger who had provided the buoyancy needed to slowly float towards the surface. And for that he owned her everything, and could deny her nothing.

If she wanted him to wait half an hour before returning to the room they had been given to stay in for the duration of their stay in Water Town, then so be it.

Excusing himself from the gathering, he'd walked the temple gardens, checking for any sign of goblin activity. He found none, as he had anticipated, but the almost ritualistic search always calmed him, allowed him to find his center. He was a broken man, yes, but not beyond repair. The twin moons had risen higher in the sky, and his experienced eye told him that the promised time had elapsed, and he so he'd made his way back into the temples dormitory, passing by several low-level priests and acolytes going about their assigned tasks, regardless of the late hour.

The upper floor of the dormitory was thankfully sparsely populated, with thick stone walls and oak doors intended to keep out the cold of winter, but also more than up to the task of keeping the enthusiastic moans and screams of a certain Rnager from waking the entire building. High Elf Archer was a very vocal lover with an extensive vocabulary in both the common language and that of her own people. More than once he'd been on the receiving end of questionable looks after the two of them spent the night at an Inn on the road. While, much like Cow Girl and Guild Girl, they may have been virgins on their wedding night, they'd more than made up for it since. And something about the way his wife had looked at him told him that she had something special planned, and that he wouldn't be getting much sleep that night.

A faint smile crossed his lips: no, this was not a life the man he was just over a year previously would have chosen, but if he'd known then what he knew now, he would have proposed to his wives long before they felt the need to take matters into their own hands.

Reaching the door to their chamber, he hesitated slightly: High Elf Archer was undoubtedly the most adventures of his wives, in more ways than one, and he was at times shocked by what she came up with. And they were in a temple, the temple of the Supreme God himself none the less, and he felt a momentary pang of fear over what awaited him on the other side of the door. Setting his resolve, he stepped through the door and closed it behind him.

What awaited him on the other side went far beyond his wildest imagination.

High Elf Archer stood at the foot of the bed, having swapped her dress for a simple robe tied around her narrow waist,hungopen just enough to make it clear that she was naked underneath. That was hardly surprising, given just how often he saw he dressed like that around their home: while far from being an exhibitionist, she felt most comfortable without undercloths, and saw no shame in walking around her own home either naked or with just the minimal amount that clothing on. There was a concerned look on her face, the kind he hadn't seen on her since their wedding night.

Turning his head to the side, he saw why.

Sword Maiden sat on the bed, hands in her lap. She was dressed in a similar robe that was at the point of losing the battle to contain her impressive, gravity defying chest, and there was a look of total serenity on her face, with just a faint hint of uncertainty if you knew where to look for it.

"Husband." High Elf Archer bowed her head slightly, surprising him even more, as she was by nature submissive to no one, "As you know, I am not pregnant,despite your best, and most enjoyable efforts. I have to confess that this is not entirely surprising: humans and my kind often find it hard to have children together. But the Aarch... but Sword Maiden has offered to help." she gestured nervously towards the other woman, "She knows of a ritual that should ensure that your seed finally takes root inside me."

"I see." Goblin Slayer nodded, finally understanding what had been weighing so heavily on the Rangers mind these past few months, "This is what you want?"

"More than anything!" the Elf admitted fervently.

"I see." her husband nodded again, "So, how do we perform things ritual?"

"You have no questions?" Sword Maiden asked, somewhat surprised, "No reservations?"

"It's what she wants." he offered by way of explanation.

High Elf Archer's face lit up like a summers day, and she rushed over to embrace her husband, her robe falling open to reveal her lithe body.

"Thank you!" she sobbed, "Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Very well." Sword Maiden nodded with a smile, "Then come to bed, both of you, and let us see if we can convince the gods to grant you a child born of your love for one another.

To Be Continued...