The old elven fortress nestled into the middle of the forest had more than once been considered as a possible place for reoccupation. After all, its position was strategically advantageous, the terrain was favorable for expansion, and the forest surrounding it offered plenty of lumber to work with. And of course, the proximity to a human village meant easy access to the roads leading through the Frontier and an easy food source.

By all means, it would be the perfect base for a local garrison.

Unfortunately, bureaucracy and territory arguments had long held back any possible decision to repopulate the fortress, or even efforts to restore it from disrepair. So in the interim, a new band of occupants had taken residence upon the elven stronghold.

Goblins.

Disgusting, vile, and a blight to all inhabitants of the world, goblins were considered pests by many an experienced adventurer, a fitting hunt only for the lower-ranked rookies to fight against due to the poor rewards commonly associated and the public conception that goblins were nothing but stupid creatures.

But as a grungy, armored warrior more than once repeated to the few people he had met, goblins may be fools, but they aren't stupid. After all, a stupid creature would not have occupied the fortress, nor would it have posted up sentries at the gate or placed traps for security. And that was exactly what these goblins had done.

This was the situation beheld by the party of four Steel-ranked adventurers currently standing at the edge of the clearing the fortress was located on, standing amidst the roots of one of the largest trees for concealment and carefully scouting out the ancient building. These adventurers were Rhea Ranger, Human Monk, Elf Wizard, and their leader, Noble Knight.

Their mission? To rescue the girls taken captive from the nearby village after a surprisingly bold raid by the band of goblins that inhabited the old fortress.

And they would not fail.

"We know the goblins are hiding inside that fortress," said Noble Knight staunchly, a hand resting on the handle of her sword. "They'll be asleep now that it is noon, hence it is the perfect time to sneak in."

"I can take out the guards from here, make sure they don't raise any alarms," spoke up Rhea Ranger, raising her bow as if to reinforce the point. "Would make it easier for me to check for any traps, too."

"I can keep my healing spells ready for the captives," added Human Monk, her grip on her staff tightening just slightly so as thoughts of the kidnapped girls crossed her mind. "We'll be depending on potions for ourselves, though…"

"Offensive spells are out of question as well," finished Elf Wizard, her gaze locked directly towards the fortress. "One stray fireball and we'll end up burning the entire place down."

"We will manage it. Remain aware of your surroundings at all times, and watch each other's backs in there. No matter what, we'll rescue those girls."

And with that final determined statement, the four adventurers rose from their hiding spot and began their approach of the fortress. They moved as silently as possible, with Noble Knight being extra careful so as to not let her armor rattle and give away their position, until finally they were properly hidden inside a large bush and close enough to the entrance that they could see two goblins wielding spears and standing guard at the gate.

Without uttering a word, Rhea Ranger took two arrows and notched them onto her bow, carefully aiming them at the two sentries. She felt the divine magic wash over her body as she closed her eyes and drew in a long, steady inhale, and when she opened her eyes and held her breath, the path of her arrows became as clear as day, a soft glow enveloping her fingers as she pulled the string of her bow.

After a second more to truly steady herself, the Rhea let the arrows fly. And fly true they did.

Before either of the goblins could hear the whistling of the projectiles or see the faint blur of them approaching, both arrows drove themselves through their heads, killing both instantly and making them fall to the ground with not a cry of alarm. With her deed done, Rhea Ranger let out a sigh of relief, just as Human Monk placed a hand on her shoulder in congratulations, a soft smile on the young girl's face.

Not a moment later, Noble Knight gave the signal for her team to move forward again, and this time they did not stop until the party had reached the fortress' old iron gate. As they approached, their assessment proved correct: only the two sentries had been present as guards, with no other goblins in sight. However, just as they were to step forward, Rhea Ranger raised a closed fist, signaling her party members to stop. Once they had done so, the rhea carefully edged forward and slowly dug her fingers into the dirt, before wiping it off to the side, revealing the carefully hidden bear trap just shy of the surface. With a relieved sigh, Rhea Ranger carefully disarmed the trap, then motioned the rest of the party forward.

However, that soon proved itself to not be the only obstacle in their path. Indeed, the goblins seemed to have been surprisingly paranoid with placing security measures throughout the main path to the fortress' patio. Tripwires, alarms and traps aplenty filled the path towards the main building of the fortress, all of them requiring disarming or disassembling, eating away at the precious time the adventurers needed and putting further stress onto Rhea Ranger.

She was not the only one with worries hanging over her head, however. Her three party colleagues kept their hold on their weapons tight, their eyes moving to and fro as they kept watch over the many, many sleeping goblins snoring the day away amongst the roots, branches and abandoned buildings inside the fortress. And even though they showed no signs of waking, the four young women still felt their skin crawl at the sight of the green creatures.

After all, they knew very well the fate that awaited them should the goblins capture them. It was one that no person deserved, and one that they would rescue those ill-fated village girls from.

Thankfully, soon the path opened itself into their initial goal: the patio of the fortress. Contrary to human ones, the main grounds of their strongholds were not a fully exposed open area. Instead, it had just as many branches and roots across its span, all intertwined with the buildings of brick and stone that had been built by elven hands so long ago. With sunlight filtering through the branches just enough to illuminate the area around them, the Steel-rank party was able to see the far more numerous goblin numbers surrounding them, mercifully also asleep…

And the naked, bruised and bloodied body of one of the girls they had come to rescue, tossed aside on the floor like a discarded tool and facing away from the adventurers.

Unfortunately, that was the moment that caution left Rhea Ranger's tired mind, and Human Monk's worrywart ways decided to surface. Before either Noble Knight or Elf Wizard could stop them, the two rushed towards the fallen girl, heedless of the sleeping goblins that could be roused up with their action, and in as few as two strides the two stood beside the unmoving girl, with Rhea Ranger carefully cradling her body and Human Monk readying a healing spell. "Don't worry, we're here," whispered the rhea as she pulled the girl closer to herself, some of the tension in her mind and body giving way to relief. "Everything will be—"

In was in that moment, however, that Ranger's eyes widened as two horrifying realizations hit her at once.

That this girl's throat had long been slashed open, the blood around the wound dry and flaky, with no pulse to be found in her body.

And that by raising her body, Rhea Ranger had just removed the weight keeping a pressure plate under the body down, causing it to release and let go of a thin wire hidden beneath the dirt. And once it was free, a bag filled with metal objects fell to the ground with a clatter loud enough to rouse the dead.

Or in this case, rouse the horde of goblins surrounding them, who slowly but surely returned to consciousness and began reaching for the weapons laid at their side.

"Dammit!" growled Noble Knight, her blade already out of its sheath and held at the ready as her teammates rallied beside her and readied their own weapons, and what few goblins had fully woken up began encroaching towards them. "We're pulling back! Form a single file, I'll cover the rear!" As Knight gave her orders, a goblin rushed towards her with a rusty dagger covered with filth in its grasp, ready to lash out at whatever part of her it could reach. As soon as it approached, however, Noble Knight expertly snuck her blade over the goblin's weapon just as it readied itself to leap forward, slashing open the monster's throat and dropping it to the ground with a single blow. As the dying goblin gurgled its death throes, however, four more soon took its place, all of them wielding weapons of their own and with hatred and lust in equal measure in their eyes. Two quickly met their end, however, when arrows pierced their hearts and heads simultaneously. The other two…

"Sagitta… inflammarae… radius!"

Were set aflame instantly when a large firebolt cast by Elf Wizard flew over Noble Knight's head and exploded between them, torching both goblins into charcoal in mere moments. But still it was not enough, with even more goblins taking their place, while from the corner of her eyes Noble Knight saw several more appearing in the branches above and ahead of them.

Tch… Dammit, this can't end like this…

WHACK

Just as the thought crossed her mind, something small and fast collided with her head, knocking the warrior off-balance and forcing her to kneel on the ground as blood spurted then oozed from her head wound. In her downed, disoriented state, Noble Knight could only foggily watch as another opportunistic goblin leapt forward with its weapon aimed toward her neck, her companions watching helplessly as the blade inched ever closer.

That is when, without warning, the goblin's arm and head exploded into a shower of gore, splashing blood and flesh onto Noble Knight and the ground, and the headless body fell to the ground gushing blood like a fountain. And before any of those present could begin to comprehend what had happened, five more goblins up in the roots were met with a similar fate, their heads popping like overripe fruits as something attacked them.

"W-What's happening?!" cried out Human Monk in alarm as she inched closer to Rhea Ranger, her staff held with a white-knuckle tight grip as her eyes swiveled to and fro to find whatever assailant had begun attacking.

"I don't know!" shouted Elf Wizard in response as she ran to her team leader's side and threw one of Knight's arms over her shoulder. "But we need to leave, now!"

Thankfully, a new path of escape had now opened to them. In the confusion caused by the unseen attacker, the goblins had begun to become disorganized, running to whatever cover they could find to try and hide. This left the main route back to the entrance clear of hostile, allowing the four adventurers to hurriedly make their way back to the main gate.

Of course, the goblins would not let them leave so easily. Every little green devils that managed to find some cover and turned their attention to the retreating Steel ranks began hollering unknown words in their foul, disgusting language, with fingers or weapons being pointed to show towards whom they directed their profanities. And such cries were answered, when some goblins took hold of slings or bows and took aim at the escaping women. However, their efforts were quickly stopped by both Rhea Ranger's magically enhanced shooting skills, or by the unknown assailant's furious assault, which mangled limbs and rent bodies apart with every mysterious attack. Finally, they soon came upon the last stretch of the dirt path, the still-open iron gate clearly visible as their promised escape route, and the three still-conscious adventurers dragged their knocked out and injured leader to their freedom.

Unfortunately, fate yet again decided to try and whisk away their desperately yearned-for victory.

From a hiding spot amidst some roots, a larger-than-average and far more muscular goblin draped in crude leather armor jumped out and threw a trio of hunting bolas at the running adventurers, entangling Rhea Ranger's hands and feet, and Elf Wizard's throat. Both girls quickly stumbled forward due to the unforeseen attacker, with the latter heavily dropping the injured Noble Knight unceremoniously to the ground as she gasped for breath, and leaving the path open for the goblin to rush to the fallen elf and human women.

"No!" cried out Human Monk in desperation, quickly interposing herself between the fallen duo and the vile creature as her mind raced to draw upon any miracle she could think of. Unfortunately, before the chant could even begin to be spoken, the goblin jumped forward in a shocking display of speed and drove its elbow into the girl's face, breaking her nose and dropping her to the floor as blood spurted onto her robes.

As an evil grin spread across its face, and its tongue lolled out from between its misshapen, dirty teeth, the strange goblin let out a sinister cackle before withdrawing a long, sickly-looking dagger from a sheathe hanging from its hip, before slowly and sadistically walking over to the fallen monk as it twirled its weapon of choice in its bony, calloused hands. And the girl, injured as she was and with horrified panic flooding her mind, could do nothing but whimper, cry and soil herself as the monster approached, the desperate cries of Rhea Ranger and the gasped horror of Elf Wizard becoming little more than muted background noise.

Once the goblin had finally reached her, it grasped the young adventurer's throat and dragged her closer to itself, the dagger poised to tear her stomach open…

Until a few floating leaves fell onto the goblin's arm and around it, drawing a confused moan from the creature.

Followed by a massive black-clad figure crashing like a meteor atop the goblin, nearly pulverizing the monster's bones and making it cry out in sheer pain and suffering.

And so, the Steel-ranked adventurers watched as the towering figure rose from its landing, and without hesitation, smashed a heavy boot onto the aberrant goblin's head, exploding its skull into a wave of blood, bone and brains onto the ground, before turning its glowing red eyes to the crying and injured human girl on the ground. In such a sorry state, Human Monk barely registered the strange black weapon in the figure's hands, or that in a stride fast enough to match even the most experienced Silver-ranked adventurers the figure had already cut both Rhea Ranger and Elf Wizard free from their bonds with a small, strange-looking knife. And before they could even begin to think so, the sound of the approaching goblins brought their fight-or-flight instincts back to the forefront, allowing Rhea Ranger and Elf Wizard to quickly pick themselves up from the ground, retrieve their fallen weapons and move to prop up their still-injured leader with one arm each, leaving Human Monk to be picked up by the newly-arrived figure into a classical bridal carry as they quickly made their way out.

Just as they passed the gate, the figure withdrew a strange and small brown bag from within its coat and tossed it behind themselves, before quickly picking up their pace and running alongside the other two adventurers away and into the woods. When the goblin band attempted to give chase, in their carelessness, they did not see the bag laying on the dirt road right in their path.

As soon as the first goblin stepped close to it, the brown object exploded with a sound and force neither the adventurers nor the goblins had ever seen before, vaporizing the three goblins that had been in its immediate vicinity, and maiming the nearest five by turning their limbs into shredded hamburger in the blink of an eye. The rest were blown back by the concussive force of the blast, falling to the ground or colliding with the walls of the fortress.

But the only thing in the mind of the still-conscious adventurers was that, somehow, they had managed to escape from what had surely been a terrible fate aimed at them. All thanks to this mysterious, black-clad figure.

Who they were, however, was just as important a question… And they prayed to their gods that the answer would not cost them their desperately saved lives.

-O-

This had not been the plan.

When she had arrived at the fortress and found it occupied by a horde of those creatures the strange woman had shown in the cards, the so-called "goblins", the Courier made it her goal to scout out as much of the fortress as she could. Unfortunately, she had only gotten to explore the outside of the stronghold before these four women had appeared, apparently with their own mission in mind, which quickly spiraled out of control once they were caught in the trap hidden by the dead body and came under attack of the goblin horde.

And unfortunately for the Courier, but fortunately for the girls, old habits died hard.

So, without a moment's hesitation, the wastelander had taken Ratslayer unto her hands and begun putting down every goblin that came close to the four girls or attempted to attack them in any way. Thankfully, the 5.56mm rounds of the custom varmint rifle proved just as effective against goblin hide and flesh as it was against anything back in the Mojave, rending limbs and popping heads with every shot fired.

The first casualties were all cleared with the assistance of V.A.T.S., followed by any other that dared to rear their heads out of hiding or tried to attack the retreating party from a distance… Until the deviant appeared.

It was still surprising that even with a Perception as honed as hers, the Courier had failed to sniff out the strange goblin that had seemed to make his hideout at the base of the gate. And unlike the rabble that was the rest of the band, this one was smart. It had a modicum of skill with its tools, it could lay down a plan and prioritize targets… It was smart.

It definitely would have been advantageous to have observed the deviant for possible behavioral clues or tactics, but with the Stealth Boy damaged and in need of repairs, following the creature inside its own nest would have been a challenging endeavor.

Her decision to slay it was only solidified when she saw the deviant goblin's intent towards a girl that seemed young enough to be a teenager. It reminded the Courier too much of the actions the legionnaires would indulge in in their conquests.

The fate that befell it was just as equal.

Still, it also meant any plans she had made before were now useless. At the very least, she had managed to save all these girls. The injury their leader had suffered was definitely cause for worry, however, and would definitely need treatment as soon as possible, once they found a suitable place to rest.

"Psst, you are currently not being followed. Our current status is very sneaky and stealthy."

Sending a mental thanks to Aura for the update, the Courier only stopped running once she had crossed a particularly thick foliage, with her path being quickly trailed by the other two girls carrying the injured leader until they all stopped at a relatively open little clearing, with just enough open space that they could all sit down and set up a small camp.

"Set her down, I'll have a look at her injury," called out the Courier in her electronically distorted voice to the shorter girl and the pointy-eared one behind her carrying the injured knight as she set down her own charge, the girl in robes, down onto the grassy floor. "Keep her head propped up and the rest of her body level, we don't want more blood going to her head."

"Wait, what do you even plan on doing?" questioned the one with long ears with obvious suspicion in her tone. And internally, the Courier felt somewhat relieved to hear that suspicion. It reminded her of the people outside of the Mojave that she met for the first time, who didn't have any history with her, like it was during her first meeting with the Secret Service in the Appalachia. It meant that this girl had survival instincts, enough to not immediately trust the heavily armed figure with a garbled voice and hidden face, even if they had just saved their lives.

It would have served the girl well in the Mojave.

"Your leader is injured. She needs medical treatment, and I can provide it."

"I-I can cast a miracle to h-heal her," spoke up the girl in robes, even as her entire body shook from the remaining panic and her voice cracked, as she tried and failed to use her staff to push herself up. "It would m-most definitely help—"

The Courier, however, would have none of it, instead turning her gaze to the girl and making her curl back in fear when the red lenses of the wastelander's gas mask fell upon her. "You are recovering from a panic attack, whatever these miracles are should be saved for a later use when your mental state isn't compromised." As she spoke, the Courier retrieved an emergency medical kit from within her coat, quickly taking from within it a stimpak syringe, alcohol, needle and stitches thread before closing it up. "I know enough first aid to help, so allow me to."

Once more, to their credit, the girls did not relent at first. They kept careful, suspicious glares aimed at the Courier, who kept preparing her medical tools as professionally as ever. Their decision was pushed onto them, however, when their leader let out a weak moan of pain, blood running down the side of her head and over her eye.

A second later, the Courier was by the young woman's side, a piece of gauze dipped in disinfectant already being pressed against the wound to staunch the bleeding and the stimpak already inserted into her vein and emptied of its contents. The knight barely shuddered when the chemical flowed through her veins, and with barely seconds, the open cut and broken bone quickly mended themselves back to perfection, allowing the Courier to wipe away the leftover blood where the wound had been. "She'll be unconscious for the rest of the day, most likely, but she'll live," said the Mojave native as she tossed away the gauze and put the empty stimpak back into the medkit. While she did so, the woman with the pointed ears approached the now sleeping knight and moved her hair out of the way, only to see that no trace of the injury had remained.

"Incredible…" she muttered, before turning her gaze back to the Courier. "What manner of potion is that? I've never seen one like it… Or be administered this way."

"It's not a potion, it is a healing chemical. If it was ingested like a drink, it'd have no effect."

"A-Are you an alchemist, then?" asked the girl in robes, her staff now lying upon the floor as she inched closer to the Courier as she took out Ratslayer and began to run field maintenance upon it. "You don't… Look the part…"

"I just learned how to make things along my journey, or took whatever was useful to me," continued the Courier as she disassembled the barrel and began cleaning both it and the stock of Ratslayer. Once that was done, she began putting the rifle back together, making sure that no dirt or grime got into any spot. "This chemical was both of these things."

"What about your weapon, then?" asked the archer, her eyes running up and down the parts of the rifle as curiosity began to overtake her suspicion. "I've heard of muskets and flintlocks used by the human army, but… Yours look nothing like those."

"It's simply different, nothing more."

"Well, did you make it, then? And what is it called?"

"No. I found it within a den of molerats, after I killed all the molerats within. Someone later told me that it's called Ratslayer."

Her answer, predictably, earned her an incredulous stare from all three conscious girls, chiefly of them being the archer. "R-Ratslayer?! A weapon like that has a name that pathetic?!"

"You wouldn't consider it pathetic if you saw the size of the molerats it killed," was all the Courier replied before she locked the last piece of Ratslayer into place and fit the magazine back into its slot. "Are you all well enough to travel?"

"Y-Yes, I… Believe so," replied the young girl in robes, who took hold once more of her staff and used it to push herself up from the ground. "I'm… Much better now."

"So am I," replied the archer, while beside her the ones with pointed ears gave a nod in reply. Seeing this, the Courier gave her own nod of acceptance, then quickly stood up and slung Ratslayer over her shoulder by its strap.

"Good. Then we're returning to the village. I'll carry your leader, we'll travel faster that way."

That, however, seemed to not be the answer the girls had been expecting. Especially considering the pointed-ears one shot to her feet in one lightning-fast motion, eyes wide and mouth hanging agape. "What?! What are you talking about, we have to go back! We need to save the girls the goblins took!"

"You are down one member of your group, and the goblins know you're here. You would need a new plan, information on their strength, not to mention your lack of knowledge of the fortress' inside." As she spoke, the Courier moved to the sleeping knight and hoisted her off the ground effortlessly, carefully laying the woman against her back in a typical soldier carry position. "You would be doing nothing other than marching to your own deaths. But this time, I would not be there to save you."

And indeed, while it was very clear they did not enjoy the truth, they very much seemed painfully aware of it. They averted their eyes, grit their teeth and even clenched their fists, but no denials were spoken. With her last words spoken, the Courier turned back to a direction deeper into the forest and began walking, the marker indicating the village nearby floating off in the distance within her field-of-view. "You don't need to worry, however. I'll come back and eliminate this nest."

"And what makes it different that you do it alone and not us?" asked the girl with pointed ears in a slightly caustic tone.

"Because it won't be my first time."

And though they would hardly admit it, the sheer dread those words brought to the three adventurers was enough to make them shiver from head to toe.

-O-

The travel back to the village did not take long, fortunately. As the Courier had promised, her carrying the unconscious woman made the group's pace extremely brisk, and after barely two hours the four women had left the forest behind and entered the grounds of the village. The villagers, naturally, were quite apprehensive and worried to see the adventurers that had gone off to rescue the goblins' captive return battered and escorted by the armored stranger that had arrived not a few days ago. Still, the fact they all were alive was certainly something to be thankful for, especially with how numerous the goblins had been found to be, but their questions were quickly pushed aside by the armored figure as she made her way to the abandoned house she had rented out from the village leader for a small sum of silver coins, the mare the Courier had bought from the farmer family waiting patiently next to the building and watching the group pass by her and enter the house.

Once inside, the Courier laid the knight onto the single bed inside, carefully laying her head onto the pillow and covering her with the old sheets she had scrounged from the closet, while the three other "guests" huddled close to their leader with a request for privacy. So, with the erstwhile guests now mostly accommodated and things secure, the Courier took her backpack and withdrew from it her hot plate, a bottle of Sarsaparilla, the skillet hanging from the side, a few cooking utensils, jalapeño peppers, potatoes, a can of beans and some Bighorner steaks.

With food in hand, the Mojave native returned to the kitchen of the house and set out to ready a meal for herself and the three girls. And amidst the solitude of the room, with only the sound of the searing meat to fill the space, her thoughts began to drift.

Primarily, to the girls and their mission.

The Courier was no stranger to children or young ones being pressed into combat. NCR was no stranger to recruiting teens or young adults, and even Caesar's soldiers began young, a common thing to happen in the wasteland, where a healthy life was rare, and strengthening the body was something paramount to aim for. After all, you didn't live long in the Mojave's wilderness if you skipped out on training or preparation, unless you had the Luck of God (or the devil) on your side.

But this… these girls looked no older than some of the children in Caesar's war camp. And while they seemed to have experience as warriors, and the one with pointed ears apparently could cast actual magic… they still seemed too young for this. Where were their leaders? Had they really sent four young women with no previous scouting or possible back-up?

Such thoughts were promptly shunted away by the Courier, however, once the reality of her situation was remembered. Whatever were the answers to these questions, she would not discover them by herself in this distant village. With any luck, the girls would be willing to lead her to whatever organization they answered to, or failing that, their superior or as close to one as possible.

But first, she had a mission to uphold. And much, much blood would be spilled before it was over.

And before that, she had a meal to finish.

Once the meat had simmered to perfection with the Sarsaparilla and jalapeños, the potatoes had been griddled and the beans were heated and cooked, the Courier moved to the old cupboard and took from it five wooden bowls and spoons and filled them all with generous portions of food before setting them atop a tray and carrying it into the bedroom where the girls were waiting in.

And judging by the way all of them turned towards the door and almost immediately perked up, it seemed the Courier had yet to lose her cooking skills.

"Did you… make that?" asked the archer as she stared hungrily at the tray, her eyes almost sparkling as she moved closer to the Courier.

"Yes. Considering what you all went through, I thought a hot fresh meal would help out."

"Oh… Well, thank… you."

Still somewhat hesitantly, the three girls picked up one bowl for themselves and stared at the contents inside of them with a modicum of apprehension, until finally the one with pointed ears decided to swallow her pride and suspicion and took a spoonful from the offered meal into her mouth.

Like lightning had traveled up her spine, the girl's back went perfectly straight as her eyes widened and her face flushed bright red. A moment later, she began shoveling the food as fast as possible into her mouth, uncaring of the shocked stares her comrades were giving her. Once the duo tasted the meat and potatoes, however, they too began eating with as much gusto as their friend, their previous stress and worry vanishing as fast as the offered lunch into their mouths.

Without a word, the Courier set down the tray next to the bed, only passingly taking note of how the unconscious girl shifted slightly when the food was brought next to her. With that done, the Courier took the second-to-last bowl for herself, moved to one of the corners and sat down on the hard wood floor. Once she was somewhat comfortable, the woman set the bowl onto the floor and carefully removed her helmet, her gloved hand running in-between her dreads to wipe away some of the sweat. That was also the moment when the smell of the Bighorner steak and potatoes hit her nose, confirming that indeed, her cooking skills were still sharp.

To be expected, of course. Ulysses would have chided her to no end if she hadn't taken his lessons to heart.

She hoped he was still fine… It had been many months since their stand at the Gap…

"You look… Younger than I expected."

Her attention was brought back to reality, however, when she heard the voice of one of the girls directed at her, with a turn of the head confirming it to be from the one with the white robes who was eyeing her with an innocently curious stare from barely two steps away, the empty bowl sitting comfortably in her hands. Once she realized she had been staring for quite some time, the girl's face became tinted bright crimson, and she quickly backed away in embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't m-mean to-!"

"It's alright, I don't mind the honesty," replied the Courier with a wave of her hand, her voice no longer altered by the helmet's speakers. "It's natural to want to see the face of someone who hides it."

"Yes, I… Suppose so… Oh! I forgot we didn't introduce ourselves! I am Human Monk," spoke the girl with a smile now gracing her face. She then turned to her two friends, who were watching their interaction with a mix of curiosity and interest. "Those are Elf Wizard, Rhea Ranger, and the one you healed is our leader, Noble Knight."

Though she took note of how none of them had spoken their names, the Courier saw no need to question it at the moment. It could very well be just another trait of the land, or maybe just a custom. Whatever the case, it would do no help to pry into it, so instead she merely gave a nod in response. "I'm Courier. Pleasure to meet you all."

"A courier?" asked the now-named Elf Wizard with a hint of disbelief, her gaze travelling up and down the Mojave native's body. "You seem… heavily armed for a messenger."

"It all depends on what message you carry. Mine makes it… necessary to always be prepared."

"I see…"

With those last words spoken, a comfortable silence once more settled amidst the group as they let their meal settle, until finally the sun began to vanish over the horizon, and the girls retired to the room to rest and recover from their ordeal.

Once she was sure the four were fully asleep, the Courier took her backpack and withdrew from it Ultimatum, the Assaultron Blade, Blood Nap and That Gun, alongside a generous number of grenades and explosives, all of them placed within the confines of the Big MT's Coat of Infinite Holding!'s pockets.

And without a sound with her, the Courier vanished into the night, and back towards the elven fortress.

-O-

It's not fair!

It's not fair, it's not fair, it's not fair, it's not fair!

Those were the thoughts of the goblin sentry that had watched the main door to the keep of the fortress as he ran desperately through the hallways towards their throne room, his weapon long discarded and his body stained from head to toe with blood.

Blood from the other goblins, who were now dead.

Dead because of that demon.

When the shaman had brought them all here, he had talked on and on about how safe it would be, how big the fortress was, how much food and treasure and women they'd get, with no adventurer being able to touch them. He even made big talk of that wanderer that had come to them, how he fought like an adventurer, how all his traps would kill anyone that tried to get in.

And at first, he had been right. No adventurers had dared come to their new home, and their raids on the farm had earned plenty of living and breeding stock, with the cowardly, weakling villagers doing nothing but hide in their houses. It only made it sweeter when they got to use the girls, that they had been abandoned by their own families.

When those adventurers showed up the day before, the goblin didn't think much. Sure, they killed some of their band, but that just meant fewer to share the food and humans with. And with them all being women, too, it would mean plenty of use after they were beaten.

But then something attacked. They couldn't see it, couldn't smell it, could barely hear it, but it had been there, and it slaughtered their numbers. Fourteen heads, all killed without ever having a hint of what killed them. And worse, even the wanderer had been killed, his head splattered against the floor of the fortress.

The shaman was furious. He had spoken of readying their numbers and burning the human village to the ground for this, take all the women and kill everyone else so they could build their numbers back up, and make those humans pay for what they had done. They had just started preparing to march out, when it had shown up.

It had been so fast. One moment, he and five others of the band had gathered in the patio carrying buckets filled with weapons.

The next, balls of fire began exploding as loud as thunder all around the fortress, surprising every goblin inside the fortress and rattling the tree like a pile of sticks.

Then the… the creature landed atop one of the goblins of the group, turning him into a bloodied smear on the ground, before cutting down three more with this strange, ugly sword that seemed to hum as the figure swung it.

Of the two goblins that remained, one tried jumping onto the thing's back while it was turned.

He was dead now. Split in two like some fruit.

The other was himself, running as fast as he could towards the throne room to look for the shaman, his dagger long abandoned in the patio in a futile attempt to make himself lighter.

Of course, the noise had attracted the rest of the horde, including one of their hobs, who quickly rushed with weapons in hand to meet this threat. The goblin did not know how well they fared against the demon. He only heard the shouting and screaming of the other goblins, the roaring of the hob, and even more explosions.

And they soon started getting closer.

With every ounce of strength it had left, the goblin ran the last corridor until finally, he reached the ajar doors of the throne room for the shaman. With a desperate, gleeful cackle, the goblin threw his entire body into the old wooden doors, flinging them open and finally revealing the inside of the throne room.

The currently empty throne room.

The goblin had scant seconds to let the image reach his diminutive brain before they were promptly splattered across the room, the last sound it ever heard being the thunderous roar of whatever weapon the monster wielded.

-O-

This had not been the plan.

This had not been the plan at all.

The goblin shaman cursed and growled the entire way as he paced down the hidden tunnel, escorted by his hobgoblin bodyguards, while behind them what few breeding mules remained were dragged along by a few of the more grown goblins that had joined their escape.

A paltry number compared to the small army they had before.

But what could have gone wrong?! He had made sure to keep the band's raids to a minimum so the adventurers would be slow to notice, more than enough time to breed themselves an army big enough to fill the entire fortress! He had even managed to bring a wanderer into their midst, one knowledgeable in traps and ambushes, the perfect scout and ambusher for anyone foolish enough to attack them!

But now he was dead. Almost their entire army was dead, their fortress was broken, and he was forced to flee with his tail between his legs, like a common goblin!

He was destined for greater than this! He was shaman, blessed with arcane arts few others of his kind could earn, and greater than even some of his own fellow! Be it fire, lightning or ice, he could conjure it, and up to four times a day even! What kind of fight could the muscle of the hobs or the stupidity of the lower goblins muster against him?!

But no… no, all of his planning and readiness had been ended by that… That monster of an adventurer!

The shaman did not understand why the Dark Gods had whispered into his mind in such an abrupt manner, right at the cusp of his assault on the human village, but he certainly understood what the warning had been for. It had been so he could prepare for the thing that attacked his home.

He had seen it in the vision. Cloaked in shadow, fire, blood and rage, this abomination that carried in its back the shadow of uncountable dead, all killed by its hand… this was the being that had come to end the shaman's aspirations. It had saved the filthy adventurers that had come to rescue his breeding mules, killed his wanderer, and now was destroying his pilfered fortress!

But no… no, this would not be the end. He still had some troops, some human women, and a plan to escape. Let the rabble that was the rest of the horde distract the enemy and die to satisfy the bloodlust of the thing, while he escaped to fight another day.

That was how a goblin survived. Learn, run, and adapt. Always grow, always kill… always survive.

Yes, he would keep surviving, and make this "adventurer" pay dearly for their transgression.

A growl from the leading hobgoblins served to warn the shaman that the exit was close. And indeed, the wisps of the air from the outside world blew into his calloused, reptilian skin, chilling it just so and filling his mind with euphoria.

It was this euphoria that blinded him to the fact his hobs had just stepped into a strange red line running across the floor of the cave.

A second later, the shaman's world became fire and wind and pain as something blasted apart both of his hob bodyguards, tearing and burning their flesh and splattering blood all over the cave's mouth, and tossed around both him, his goblin retinue and his breeding cattle back into the tunnel with enough force to lift them all from the ground.

The shaman landed with a violent thud onto the ground, his ears ringing from the noise of the blast and his staff flying away into some corner of the tunnel. A biting jolt of pain laced through his left side as a particularly sharp rock pierced his skin, and the dust that entered his eyes blinded the shaman. Blinded and deafened, all he could do was fumble around for his staff, his fingers brushing against the rock and pebbles until finally, he felt the touch of wood brush his fingertips, and a bit more reach confirmed the shape of his staff's shaft, which the shaman grasped as his most desperate lifeline, the faint thrumming of his magical might resonating with the staff's channeling stone. Thankfully, as if answering the inner sounds of his arcane, soon his vision and hearing began to return, bringing the world once more to focus.

Only to his horror, the world had just become hell.

His hobs were no more, their mangled, headless and burnt corpses laying against the walls of the tunnel like sacks of meat. The breeding mules were alive, but unconscious, their bodies sprawled on the floor and their rags blown away by the explosions. And his remaining goblins…

They were dead. All dead, and none left intact. Limbs and organs were strewn the walls and floor, and so much blood pooled on the ground that every little quiver of movement made the red surface tremble with waves.

And standing amidst the carnage was the abomination, with a strange sword in one hand and a strange weapon in another, coated in as much blood as the ground and with one boot propped atop the decapitated head of a goblin wretch.

And those eyes… those red, horrific glowing eyes, burning like flames of the deepest pits of the underworld, and peering at the shaman with hatred baleful enough to rival that of the foulest demons… only one emotion remained within the goblin. One every member of his species held in their heart, from the moment they were born to the very day of their death, the only emotion stronger than their greed or anger towards the other races.

It was fear. Primal, uncontrollable, relentless fear.

Fear that locked his muscles in place, leaving the shaman unable to do anything other than stare and piss himself.

Before the shaman could even twitch, the thing raised its arm and pointed that strange pipe weapon towards him. There was a deafening roar, a flash of light…

And a scant second later, the goblin's arm that gripped his staff was separated from his body, reduced to a mass of meat and broken bone, the staff once more being flung into the air, only to be blasted into splinters a second later when the weapon roared a second time.

Before the pain could finally bring the shaman's mind to reality from its fear-induced haze, the figure rushed forward in a blink of an eye, swinging its strange sword down and through the goblin's body from his shoulder bone to his pelvis, the blade carving through his flesh and bone alike as if they were made of liquid. And in the scant second that its consciousness remained, it heard the demon speak, in a voice as deep and as terrifying as the abyss.

"May you and your wretched filth of a kind drown in the darkness and horror of hell, degenerate scum."

-O-

Noble Knight's return to the world of the waken was, surprisingly to her, painless and uneventful. That she returned at all, however, was the greatest surprise, considering what her last memory before being knocked out was of. And yet, rather than the cold dungeon and mad cackling of goblins ready to do unspeakable things to her, the Steel-ranked adventurer found herself wrapped in blankets and atop a cozy bed inside a clearly old house, with the early rays of the sun peeking through the gaps of the aged drapes blocking the window of the room. One of her hands raised unconsciously to brush against the spot in her head where the goblin slinger had hit her with a rock, but shockingly, there seemed to be no trace of the wound there, not even a scab or scar to mark the blow.

And to both her immense relief and pleasant surprise, she found her three party members lying on the floor, sleeping peacefully wrapped with blankets and their heads laying atop some old, fraying pillows. Surrounding them were empty bowls with a few traces of food in them, and a single filled bowl with food that clearly had long cooled, but still gave a mouth-watering smell, sitting in the nightstand beside her bed alongside a simple wooden spoon.

All in all, a very… Different situation than the one she expected.

With a groan of effort, Noble Knight pushed herself to a sitting position in the bed, careful to keep the pillow upon her back as a makeshift chair seat. Once she was sure she would not fall over out of tiredness, the girl took hold of the bowl and spoon beside her bed, dug onto the surprisingly still tender meat and potatoes, and put a spoonful of food into her mouth.

The explosion of flavor coming from the cold food served as yet another surprise to the pile, only this one had the benefit of filling her body with a surge of energy she never had felt before from eating food, even from the elven dishes her party member would cook from time to time. As silently and as fast as she could, Noble Knight ate her meal down to the last bite, until finally she set down the empty bowl back onto the nightstand and left the bed as stealthily as possible, each step that made the wooden floor groan earning a wince from the adventurer.

Thankfully, however, luck had allowed that the girl leave the room without waking her companions. It was only when she was standing in the living room, looking at her neatly folded clothes and armor atop a table next to her sword that Noble Knight realized she had been redressed into (thankfully modest) civilian clothes, something that brought forth the question of exactly who undressed her, and to which she hoped the answer was her teammates, and not… Whoever had rescued them all. In the end, with practiced ease and quiet, Noble Knight redressed into her battle garb and holstered her blade to her waist, before taking a cloak from the coat hanger close to the door and leaving through the front door of the house.

The chill air of the morning quickly wafted against her, but the cloak was enough to keep it at bay, the cloth fluttering lightly as she took in the sight of the village they had passed on the way to the old elven fortress. However, a sudden noise next to the adventurer made her quickly turn around, her hand flashing to the hilt of her sword, only to find it had only been a horse resting upon the ground next to the house, lazily gazing upon the adventurer before laying its head down to sleep once more. So, with a sigh of relief, Noble Knight turned back to the village and began making her way down the dirt road, her pace tranquil as she entered the village proper and let her gaze wander over the many people already outside and working on their daily duties.

It was always a sight that brought a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction to her. Whenever a villager was allowed peace to tend to their fields or animals, when their children could play around with one another throughout the day, when their homes were kept safe and untouched by a bandit or monster raid… It made her belief that the path she chose was the right one all along. That because of her, her friends, and every adventurer that is part of the guild, the people out here on the Frontier could earn one more day of tranquility, and keep going with their lives.

… But today wasn't such a day. Because they had failed.

They had been bested by the goblin horde in the fortress, and only by a miracle had been saved by… someone.

But what if that someone hadn't been there? What would have happened to them? She knew the fate that awaited village waifs that the goblins kidnapped, but what exactly would they have done to adventurers who had killed their kind? It made her soul shudder at the thought…

Many adventurers talked of "lucky rolls of the dice" when miracles like this happened to them, and right now, Noble Knight found herself hoping that this particular lucky roll had not burned all of her life's remaining good luck…

Just as she turned her eyes towards the direction of the tree line, however, Noble Knight saw something that fully drew her curiosity: a massive plume of black smoke, rising to the heavens from deeper within the forest. And unless she was misremembering… It came from the direction of the fortress…

Her pondering was once again ended once the sound of wheels crunching against the dirt started approaching her from the side, and which a turn of the head confirmed to be coming from an approaching cart, the horses drawing it whining and neighing as they were led by the cart's driver to their trough, the cart itself clacking softly as its wheels crunched dirt and pebbles beneath them until it came to a stop.

And from within it jumped two figures that Noble Knight immediately recognized as adventurers. One was a young girl with long blond hair and blue eyes, likely no older than fifteen, wearing the cloth and wielding the staff that marked her as a member of the Church of the Earth Mother.

The other adventurer, however, was someone Noble Knight knew very well from the rumors and gossip inside the Guild. Dressed in dirty metal light armor, with a sword at his hip and a buckler in his arm, and his face fully obscured by the plate helm upon his head, Goblin Slayer was a figure one would be hard pressed to not recognize.

The fact that he was being accompanied by the young girl, however, was certainly something that struck the Steel rank as shockingly surprising.

With her mind set, Noble Knight turned on her feet and paced towards the two new arrivals. It did not surprise her that even at this distance, Goblin Slayer noticed her approach and set his attention fully on her, something that also drew the attention of the young girl by his side. Once she was five steps away from the two, Noble Knight swept her cloak to the side, revealing her armor, sword, and adventurer tag hanging from her neck. "I'd never expect to find someone like you here, Goblin Slayer," she spoke calmly with a smile to the armored man. "Least of which with company by your side."

"I'm here for a goblin quest," he replied in a dull, almost emotionless tone. "It said goblins were occupying an elven fortress, and an adventurer party had come here."

"That'd have been us, yes. We took the quest some time ago, but only got to attack the fortress yesterday."

"O-Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you then, ma'am! I am Priestess," greeted the girl, giving the Steel rank a short, polite bow before rising her head with a smile on her face, an action that the knight answered with a nod of her head and a wave.

"I'm Noble Knight. The pleasure's all mine."

That, however, was the moment Goblin Slayer decided to interject between them, the Silver rank taking a step towards Noble Knight as he spoke. "Where is your party? Have you've attacked the fortress yet?"

"G-Goblin Slayer, sir!—"

"Yes, we did. Me and my party moved on the goblin's nest during the day, wanted to catch them sleeping. And we did… But we were caught in a trap, and the entire fortress worth of goblins fell upon us…"

As she spoke, her brow creased and her hands tightened into fists, the memories of the battle still fresh in her mind as she recalled her humiliating defeat by the hands of a lucky goblin. Seeing her anger, Priestess stepped forward and grasped Noble Knight's hand, drawing a surprised look from the older girl, and whose expression softened seeing the worried but understanding expression in the blonde's face. "It's alright… take your time."

"Thank you, Priestess… I'm afraid I don't have much more to say, however… I was knocked out by a goblin slinger during the fight, and the last thing I saw were the goblins surrounding my comrades. When I woke up, however… I was in a bed, with my companions all alive and asleep around me, in a house further at the edge of the village."

"Someone else saved you, then," stated Goblin Slayer, one hand moving to cup the chin of his helmet in thought. "Do you know their identity? Did they eliminate the goblins?"

"No, whoever they were, they weren't in the room when I woke up. You'd have to ask my party for answers, if they have any."

Once Noble Knight spoke her part, the three fell into a mostly comfortable silence, with nothing but the gentle sound of the morning breeze to make them company…

That is, until several villagers began running past them in a very frantic manner, all towards the same direction.

"W-What's happening?!" asked Priestess aloud in building anxiety, her staff clutched tightly against her chest while Goblin Slayer took pulled her closer to himself for protection. Wishing to learn as well, Noble Knight reached out and grabbed one of the passing villagers, a young man, by the arm, and held him in place just long enough to have him look at her with widened eyes.

"What's going on?" she asked, her gaze steely and her grip tight. "Why are you all running?"

"T-The stranger! The one with the metal mask! She's back!" said, almost shouted, the man, before pointing to the direction they rest of the villagers kept going. "T-They say she brought back the girls! And killed the goblins!"

"What…?"

"Lead us to her, then."

The man turned towards Goblin Slayer as soon as the adventurer called out to him, and after a moment of regarding the dirty, armored man, motioned for the three to follow him, which they quickly did, running after both the man and what little remained of the villager's numbers. They didn't need to go far, barely running for two minutes, before finally reaching the building mob of people that were facing towards the edge of the forest, witnessing the arrival of the "stranger".

The gasps that her arrival raised were certainly justified.

The figure strode out of the tree line dragging an old, rickety cart behind herself, the wood of the cart groaning and shaking as it moved forward. Inside of it, to the relief of many, were the hunched-over shapes of some of the village girls the goblins had taken, alongside a shockingly large brown bag in the middle of the girls.

But the attention of the adventurers was not focused on them. Instead, the three only had eyes to the stranger herself.

Dressed in strange, almost fully-black clothes and armor, with not an inch of skin visible, and covered head to toe in an inordinate amount of blood, the stranger was like a monster from children's tales, especially with those faintly glowing red eyes they could see from beneath the cowl over her head.

And so, the mob watched as the stranger turned the cart around so its back was facing towards them, and with utmost care, helped the rescued girls to climb down to the ground. Unfortunately, the three adventurers could already see the girl's empty stares, their dead expressions and the way they almost shambled with every move, even as their loved ones pulled them close and hugged them tightly, whispering words of comfort or cries of happiness.

Sadly, all the girls were too far gone to properly recover without aid. Their best recourse now would be to be sent to a temple of the Earth Mother, and pray for a full recovery. Just as it always was…

However, it seemed the stranger was not done yet. With what seemed to be practiced ease and in a surprising show of strength, she hoisted the bag off of the cart, put it on the ground and kicked it over, allowing its contents to spill over the ground… earning a shocked gasp from Priestess, and more than one scream from the villagers.

Because from within the bag, spilled forth goblin heads. Dozens of them, in a varying state of intactness, but all of them bloodstained. There were even hobgoblin heads mixed in with them, and all of them were mangled to such a degree that their size was the only indicator of who they belonged to.

"To all of the inhabitants of this village, know this. Your days of torment are over," said the figure in a voice that sounded strangely metallic and distorted. "Know that these disgusting abominations will no longer bring destruction and misery to your home, and that their lives are now over. Tend to these women, and return to them the lives they deserved so, now that their future can be saved, just as they were."

And with her piece said, the stranger walked away from the bag of heads and towards the crowd, her pace unflinching and her gaze focused straight ahead as she made to leave the mob behind…

That is, if her path hadn't been blocked by a particular individual. One armored head to toe just as her, and with equal stoicism to his demeanor. "You attacked the fortress then?"

"That is correct."

"Did you kill all of the goblins?"

"Yes."

"What about escape paths and routes?"

"I scouted ahead for all of them, and readied traps for all of them. There were no survivors from their escape."

"What of the fortress itself?"

"Burned to the ground, after I confirmed there were no more survivors to be rescued."

"Is that so?"

"Indeed."

"I see."

Their exchange, brusque and rushed as it was, seemed to at least be satisfactory to both, with silence settling between the two the moment their words stopped coming. After another long pause, however, Noble Knight coughed onto her hand and stepped forward, offering the stranger her hand. "I assume you're the one I must thank for the rescue of my party. I am eternally grateful for your assistance, stranger. My name is Noble Knight."

"Yes, your companions told me of your name," replied the figure as she took the offered hand and shook it once, vigorously. "It is an honor to meet you. I am Courier."

"The honor is all mine."

"Thank you for saving those girls, miss Courier," spoke up Priestess in a surprisingly serene tone, a soft but still melancholic smile on her face. "I am Priestess. And the one you've spoken to is—"

"I am Goblin Slayer."

In that second after his introduction, while Priestess turned to her companion to chide him for cutting off her introduction of him, beneath the Courier's mask, a small spark of recognition flashed in her eyes. Perhaps it was that the dying adrenaline from a night of cleansing had dulled her thoughts at first, but now that she stared at the grungy, dirty warrior standing across from her, the Mojave native realized that indeed, his appearance was just as the game piece that strange woman had shown her.

This man… He was the one who would apparently return her purpose, lost so long ago amidst the flame and death of the Third Battle of Hoover Dam. Him, and his young companion…

"It is an honor to meet you then, Priestess. And you as well, Goblin Slayer."

Truly, it seemed nothing in the Courier's life would be uninteresting.

~O~

Motherfucker, why did this take so long…

Oh right, incessant chores constantly occupying so much of my day that I could barely write.

Fuck these last two weeks…

Still, I'm happy. 10.7k words, all in the name of our happy little adventure involving a goblin-murdering murder-hobo, and an everything-murdering murder-hobo finally meeting face to face.

Had a bit of a hard time adapting the chapter, especially with how sparse the moments involving the Female Party were, but at the very least I feel like I managed to give it enough justice.

Bear in mind also that this will be how the fic will be played out: plenty of time passage between the moments showcased in the manga, so as to let things and the world develop better.

In other words, don't expect us to immediately go meet High Elf Archer, Lizard Priest and Dwarf Shaman. We got some world-building to do first, fuckers.

Also, spoilery-doo, but I already got the Courier's partner lined up and ready. And lemme tell y'all a hint on them…

They're sure to cast some light on this fic c:

Next time, Call of Soul chapter!

…

Which I'll have to painfully adapt since I'm playing fast and loose with canon… Somebody get me a whiskey…

'Til then, folks. Stay safe.