Author's Note

Posting this super late, but I managed to finish it at 10 before I pass out until work tomorrow...

Uploaded

01/11/2024

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"That's two down..." = Normal speech.

Chapter 13

A Goblin Slayer's forced day off.

Rated-M

M rating for mature themes, nudity, romance, violence, blood, adult themes, and of course, sex.

Music of the day

Skyrim - Streets of Whiterun

"Come on Master, isn't this a good thing? The Jarl said there's no more goblins to slay around here, so that means you're doing great!" Serena tried consoling the downtrodden Goblin Slayer, the man having left the Jarl's court rather depressed.

"I'd say. Those filthy creatures are disgusting abominations. I heard you're responsible for clearing them out of the catacombs." Aela spoke beside him, agreeing with the vampire. "Tis a shame I wasn't there to assist you. Caving in their skulls is very satisfying…" The werewolf sighed, shaking her head.

"You are not helping…" Serena hissed, poking the woman in the side.

Aela swatted the hand away, glaring at her. "Is that not his goal? Why would he not be happy?" She retorted sharply, stopping to glare at the woman.

Serena paused, shoulders slumped. "Killing goblins is all he knows, all he works towards. Although he's always thought about how he planned on killing goblins next, I don't believe he ever considered what he would do when there came a time that there was no more goblin around…" She muttered quietly.

"There's always going to be more goblins about, they're just hiding away right now, I'm sure of it. Give it some time, those vile things will make their appearance once again. When they do, I'll gladly help him cut them down." Aela stated firmly.

"Well, I'm sure we haven't rid the world of them just yet, but we've certainly cleared out all of them within this hold. Which means…" Serena trailed off, eyes widening as she realized something.

If she made the realization that Whiterun had been cleared of goblins, that meant that Goblin Slayer surely had as well.

"Where's Master Goblin Slayer?" The voluptuous vampire asked suddenly, turning to look towards where he'd been only to find empty air.

"Excuse me. Might you two ladies be looking for sir Goblin Slayer? I believe I just saw him passing by the blacksmith a few moments ago…" A guard explained upon noticing the topic of the woman's conversation. They both turned to look at the man, eyes widening.

"The blacksmith? That's by the front gates…" Aela muttered, eyes widening. "You don't think he's planning on leaving to find more goblins to slay…, do you?" She asked, feeling as if she already knew the answer.

Serena sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"He still requires rest after his battle with the dragon!" Aela hissed, turning to run after him. "Does he not know how to sit down for one day?" She asked aloud.

"I do not believe so…" Serena muttered, running after her.

"Is he really planning on leaving without us?" The Huntress wondered aloud, a strange worry filling her chest.

Thankfully, upon reaching the front gates they found the man they were looking for. He hadn't left the city, and was in fact currently speaking to the blacksmith herself.

"Goblin Slayer! There you are." The vampire exclaimed, running up to his side. "What are you doing?" She asked curiously, no longer worried that he was going to run off on his own. "What happened to taking a day off for rest? You're not thinking about going out to slay more goblins after the Jarl forbid it, are you?" She asked worriedly.

As much as she knew he loved slaying goblins, and she loved doing it with him, she also didn't want him to drop dead from exhaustion or from not letting his wounds heal.

The man held up his old shield, showing its extensive battle damage. "I wanted the blacksmith to reforge it in that gold metal." He explained simply.

"Dwarven metal." The blacksmith corrected with a slight bit of irritation. "And my name is Adrianne Avenicci, don't forget it. If you want me to keep forging your gear, you'd do well to keep my name in that empty head of yours.

"Oh…" Goblin Slayer muttered, blinking at the woman.

Both Serena and Aela gained the impression that this wasn't the first time in the conversation that he had forgotten the name of the metal.

And to a professional blacksmith, that was very important.

"And yes I can reforge it for you." The blacksmith muttered, taking the item from his hands. She glanced at the women behind him, noticing their expressions and having overheard the conversation. "But it will take an entire day to do it for you, so I recommend you find some place to get comfortable for a while." She added, winking at the women.

Goblin Slayer didn't say anything for a moment, before he rose his head, glancing skyward. A storm was rolling in, and goblins didn't like leaving their caves during such weather.

Perhaps today he could take a day off for himself.

Set out on another quest tomorrow?

Yeah…

That sounded nice.

"I see…" He muttered, turning to leave. The two women followed after him, sticking by his side as he made his way towards the city inn.

"Yeah, Master. Let's take a day to recuperate, gather our bearings. Maybe in the morning there will be a new goblin quest to hunt for?" She offered helpfully.

The man seemed to think on her words, before nodding silently to himself. "That sounds nice." He muttered absentmindedly, slowly wandering off towards the inn. Citizens and guards all seemed to wave or greet him respectfully as he passed, but he seemed too in his own head to notice.

Aela watched him go, finding his unnatural lust for slaying goblins curious. One didn't just earn the name Goblin Slayer by killing a few measly goblins, there was a story behind it. And, without even asking, she knew it must've been a terrible one. The man before her was quiet, reserved…

Broken.

Nothing about him was normal, his very existence bleeding tragedy and despair. It hung in the air around him like a magical vail, warning others to stay away, to not get involved with him.

She didn't let that stop her from deciding him to be her mate, and yet she knew she needed to know more. Although she'd dedicated herself to him till death to them part, she knew tragically little about him.

She did not even know what his face looked like beyond the lower half, the man always wearing that helmet of his, even in his sleep.

She wanted to know, know what made Goblin Slayer tick. She wanted to know what made him so unnaturally motivated to keep moving forward despite the odds, to have the courage to stare a dragon in the eyes and not even flinch, to ruthlessly slaughter two giants back to back with so little as a short sword and daggers.

What moved him so?

What kept him grounded in this world?

What made Goblin Slayer, The Goblin Slayer? That's the question she wanted answered.

"It's terribly tragic, his story…" Serena whispered softly, watching as the golden armored man vanished into the inn. Men and women surrounded him in cheer, celebrating his return and his victory over the dragon.

Aela turned to the vampire, noticing the sadness that seemed to hang over her.

Serena held her hands to her breasts, eyes downcast, recalling the events of his tragical childhood.

"I don't know much about his past, he doesn't like to talk about it. But, I know when he was young, he lost everything in his life to goblins. His entire village slaughtered, butchered… His sister, she was…" The vampire muttered, holding a hand to her mouth.

Aela's eyes widened, listening to her speak quietly. The vampire didn't need to say anything more, it was spelled out clearly. What wasn't said didn't need to be.

"Ever since that day, he's dedicated himself to slaying goblins. His first thoughts upon seeing the morning sun rising on the dawn of a new day just how he could go about killing goblins differently than he has already done before. He wonders if there was a better, more effective and efficient way of killing them, be it burned alive in their homes, gutting them while they sleep, or even covering himself in goblin blood so he may sneak past their ranks and cut them down from the inside out."

"He's thought of it all, and even then, he still spends hours a day trying to narrow down a better way to go about accomplishing his goal." Serena turned towards the sky, hooded gaze wandering towards the setting sun. "I don't think he will ever truly rest until he knows within his very soul, that every single goblin within this world lies dead by his hand…"

"I feel as much as he feels as it is his job to look after me, it is doubly important that I look after him. His sense of self preservation is meager, and in the heat of battle all he cares about is killing whatever he's looking at, even if he's greatly wounded in the process…" Serena cringed at the sunlight on her supple vampiric flesh, pulling the red cloak just a little tighter around herself.

Aela couldn't find the words to express her feelings, mouth opening and closing. She knew that Goblin Slayer's past must have been gruesome, but this was not what she had envisioned, no not at all.

Hearing those words only served to cement her feelings towards the man, that despite everything he'd gone through in his life, he'd come out more powerful to show for it. It only made her respect him more than ever, yet she felt a longing need to make him happy.

His life had been nothing but tragic and difficult, seemingly hardship after hardship until he ran into the vampire accidentally while slaying goblins.

Hearing that her first instinct upon her rescue from her eternal prison in that tomb was to dedicate herself forever to the man had already made her respect her more than she even knew.

When she had been posed with the idea of having to share her affections for the man with a vampire of all things, she had been less then thrilled. Yet from their rather short yet insightful conversations so far, she'd come to understand that despite her nature as a monster of the night, she was different from the rest of her species. She did not prey upon the weak, taking undead slaves and feeding from human lives. Instead she took blood from her Master, and never enough to pose him harm.

For the werewolf, she knew the urges to feast upon human flesh and blood was nearly overpowering, and despite their monstrous origins, she couldn't help but feel pity for the creatures. Yet seeing Serena walking around a city full of people without so much as a sniff in their direction, she knew that her loyalty to Goblin Slayer was more than enough to overcome her fleshly urges.

It made her respect her despite her nature as a vampire, and despite her pride as a proud and passionate werewolf warrior, she gave the position of first to her instead, happily taking second place.

Although, if they were honest, they both supposed that first place was always truly going to go towards his love for killing goblins. They were just going to have to be happy with that until they helped him accomplish his goal…

"To the Dragonborn! The great dragon slayer who has come down from the mountains to bring death and destruction to the monsters that stand against us!"

"For the Dragonborn, drinks are on the house! You're always welcome in my inn, oblivion won't stop me, and neither will my wimpy husband!"

"I shall sing this song of the Dragonborn in your honor!" A bard exclaimed, producing his lute as he began singing a song, one that the entire inn all joined in on.

"Our Hero, our Hero, claims a warrior's heart. I tell you, I tell you, the Dragonborn comes."

"With a voice wielding power of the ancient nord arts. Believe, believe, the Dragonborn comes."

"It's an end to the evil of all Skyrim's foes. Beware, beware, the Dragonborn comes."

"For the darkness has passed, and the legend yet grows. You'll know, you'll know, the Dragonborns come."

When Serena and Aela finally got around to catching up to their quiet armored master, they found him surrounded Nordic warriors and woman, singing his praises as they tried to get him as drunk as possible.

And from the looks of it, they'd actually managed to get the quiet and self contained man to, at the very least down two entire wooden mugs of mead.

For some reason they felt a strange sensation of worry fill their hearts at the notion of a drunk Goblin Slayer.

They strutted their way into the lively inn, song and dance surrounding them on all sides. It was a bit much, yet compared to battling a dragon, this was nothing.

"Move aside, half bites!" Aela snapped, shoving her way into a seat beside Goblin Slayer at the bar counter, nearly shoving an adventurer to the wooden floor.

"H-Hey!" The man cried out indignantly, only to shrivel in fear when he locked eyes with the werewolf woman herself.

"Yeah? Something to say, little boy?" She muttered lowly, eyeing him like a hungry wolf preying upon a weak young calf.

"N-Nothing, Lady Aela!" The younger adventurer hastily tossed out his apology, stumbling to his feet as he found another place to sit.

With Aela firmly planted on the Goblin Slayer's right side, that left his left for the vampire to claim. As if sensing her nearing, the woman sitting beside him turned to face the silent vampire's approach.

Dangerous golden-red eyes stared across the inn, daring her to try anything with her husband.

The seat suddenly became vacant, as if no one had ever actually taken it in the first place. Serena hummed a contented little sound, planting herself firmly on the man's left side.

As for Goblin Slayer himself, he hadn't actually been aware that the people beside him had been replaced until he sudden found each of his arms trapped between the bosoms of both of his wives.

Even then it seemed to take quite a while before he noticed.

The man blinked slowly, glancing to his left then his right before voicing his surprise.

"Oh… When did you both get there…?" He muttered gutturally, voice partly slurred.

"A little while ago, actually…" Serena muttered, expression faltering. "H-How much have you had to drink Master?" She asked nervously, eyeing the two large empty ale mugs.

"Hahaha! If he can still speak, then it's not enough!" A fully armored Nord warrior exclaimed a little too loudly, slapping the man on the back. Waitress! Bring us another mug for the Dragonborn!" The man demanded boisterously.

"Y-Yes sir! Right away!" A young, busty centaur woman answered, rushing over with two more open bottles of traditional Nordic ale. With her additional height given to her with her half horse body, she was able to lean over the man and the two women clinging to his side to pour him another mug.

Much to the chagrin of one vampire, and to the glee of a certain werewolf. She didn't know which one to listen to, and just poured the ale anyway before quickly shuffling off to pour more drinks for the other patrons.

Serena sighed, hoping she could convince her Master to perhaps withhold from drinking any more for the night for the sake of his health.

Only to turn from the fleeing centaur girl to find Aela holding the mug to the man, an eager grin on her face as she encouraged him to drink another.

"Aela! You're not helping!" The voluptuous vampire hissed under her breath, leaning behind the Goblin Slayer to snap at the werewolf.

Said werewolf leaned back as well to join the conversation, an eyebrow raised in challenge. Her form shifted as her wolf features exploded from her body, ears sprouted from the top of her head, a thick bushy tail from her posterior. "Relax Honey, let's treat him to a night he won't forget. I promise I won't try and make it a habit to get him drunk on a nightly basis. But let me set this straight, our husband is no milk drinker." She stated firmly, eyes narrowed.

The vampire rolled her eyes, but decided to relent for the sake of not wishing to start a fight. She supposed that she could deal with it if it didn't become a common occurrence.

That and, the idea of treating the man to a long passionate night together with the other woman did tickle her fancy quite a bit. So it would be hypocritical of her to wish against it, knowing she was secretly looking forward to the night's end.

"I suppose it wouldn't be the worst thing…" Serena muttered, cheeks flushed as she instead sipped on a drink of her own.

Aela grinned wildly. "Naughty naughty vampire…" She cooed lowly, cheeks flushing herself. Her tail was wagging lowly behind her as she downed an entire mug in one breath, slamming it down on the counter. "Waiter! Get me another mug!" She demanded loudly, breath smelling of liquor.

"O-Oh! Yes ma'am!" The centaur ran back over, refilling her mug.

Goblin Slayer glanced at the half horse woman from the corner of his eye, holding up his mug.

His empty mug.

"Hahaha! Turns out the Dragonborn can really hold his liquor! Ain't no damn dirty milk drinkers 'loud in this bar!" The warrior slurred out, collapsing into his wooden chair.

"Oi oi oi! Break my chairs again and you're banned for a week! I don't need more work, you loaf!" The innkeeper snapped, slamming her hand down on the counter.

"Oh? And what's a wee little lass like yerself gonna do 'bout it?" The burly Nord warrior taunted, gaining oohs and awes from the rest of the in.

The feisty Nord woman's eyes narrowed as she stormed right up to the smug warrior, standing proudly before him.

He stood up in challenge, taunting her back. His Nord pride would not allow any less.

She didn't back down, holding his gaze. Right as it seemed as if they were about to come to blows, she smirked before her hand reached up to grab him by his beard, and she pulled him into a feisty kiss that had the man's eyes spinning in his head.

The inn exploded into cheer, chanting them on as she seemed to take his breath away, nearly making the poor man faint.

With the crowd momentarily distracted, Aela and Serena decided it was probably the best time to return to the guild hall and respectively their bedroom before any of them became too intoxicated to take care of themselves.

Standing up, they both tried to direct the armored man to the door before someone could convince him to down another mug.

"Come on big boy, let's get you to my bed…" Aela purred, flushing hot red as she dragged the man along, not even trying to hide her bubbling excitement for the rest of the night. Even if she didn't voice it, the speedy wagging of her tail surely gave her intentions away.

"I think that is a wonderful idea." Serena added, smiling with similar intentions.

"I'm so tired…" Goblin Slayer murmured, eyes half open behind his golden forged visor…

His head was spinning.

Gods, he wanted to sleep desperately…

Chapter

13

End