Alright. I'm all set. Now to actually get there and do what I can. I'd spent about eight minutes in the storeroom grabbing what I thought useful.

          A set of eight identical throwing daggers, a pair of bulkier bracers, a warpike, and spiked boots if some of the monsters get too close for comfort. As I was exiting the building the assistant from the office stopped me to give me five healing draughts for a just-in-case scenario as well as a horse. As I hopped on she wished me luck and I was off.

        It would seem as if the guild informed the gate guards of my job as I wasn't stopped as I charged through the gates. 

        It took about another hour for me to reach the keep that was protruding from the forests it was in. By the time I got there, it was nightfall already. At least I have some semblance of luck on my side, I thought, seeing a few of the goblins out on watch walking rather tiltedly as if they were drunk. If they're celebrating then the adventurers are either dead or soon to be. Guess I'll have to be quick then. And hope the trolls are asleep.

        After a minute or two of scouting out their defenses, I found a small crack in the walls to the right. I shimmied through it and found myself behind a bush. On the other side was a small fire with two goblins drinking from a flask. Probably taken. I suddenly charged at them, throwing a dagger at one and dispatching the other with my shortsword. I grabbed my dagger and a handful of dirt and extinguished the fire then moved on to the next groups of goblins, taking them out before they could sound an alarm and alert the rest of them. It took maybe another four or so minutes to rid the front of the little green menaces. 

       When I finished the front I headed inward via the main inner gate, entering the courtyard. The main courtyard was decently large, being about forty by fifty-ish feet big. There were a few doorways leading to different rooms, most blocked off by rubble, but there were two guarded doorways, one to my left and another on the opposing side of the courtyard to me. The left one was guarded by a single goblin that was dozing off by a torch.

       The other had two goblins that were more alert than the other one.

       That's gotta be where any survivors are. And how was this only ranked D? This should be B rank at least and taken by a full squad... and here I am on my lonesome taking them out one by one. Hope it stays that way.

      I stuck to the walls on the right avoiding the bonfire near the middle with about a dozen goblins relaxing and drinking. Not a single troll yet. Where are they? Are they out again? Sleeping? Or... no not even gonna entertain it. I crept closer and closer to the two guards. When I was about to be within striking distance two trolls exited from the doorway. I quickly hid as best as possible behind some bushes while making sure I could quickly retaliate if they find me. Luckily they didn't, going to the bonfire and sitting down, their backs towards me. I exhaled a breath I didn't realize I was holding. 

      I moved just a little closer and readied my dagger and shortsword again, throwing it at the guard closer to me and using its falling body as a springboard to launch myself closer to the second, decapitating it before it could register what happened. I grabbed the dagger and sent a glance toward the fire. None had noticed the commotion. I moved their bodies towards the shrubbery I was just behind and kicked some dirt over the blood to hide it the best I could, hoping none would notice anything was amiss.

     My suspicions were proven accurate when I saw numerous cells, most of them were empty except for a few with old skeletal remains. Three had fresher residents though, and all men. Found the adventurers. Better grab their IDs. Hopefully one of 'em will wake up when I take them. I started grabbing their tags, none of them responding when I grabbed them, nor did I feel a pulse. When I took the last one I noticed a doorway opposite me with light showing in the cracks.

     I approached the door and heard distanced breathing. It was faint. I opened the door a crack for a peek and it squeaked, loudly. I muttered screw it and opened it quickly, sword in hand, and looking for targets. There were two people chained to the wall, both girls. Their clothing was in tatters, and under one of them was some white liquid, she was the worst off, only by a little bit. They both showed signs of torture. Sometimes there are some nice, conversational monsters, this group, is not one of those ones. I could feel a strong urge to just go back out and start killing but held it back. 

      I needed to address the situation at hand. Their chains were old and rusty, a few swings to each had the girls tumble to the ground. I grabbed two healing draughts and fed them one each. A few moments later and the one worse off woke up first. She weakly motioned for me to come closer. "Please elf, I... I don't this... this 'thing.' End... it. I don't... want my ma to see... me like this." "Are you sure? You could become a nun, or a priestess..." "I- I'm sure. Please." "... Alright. It won't hurt. I promise."

      I hate this part of the job. Absolutely hate it. But if I don't do this then who will? I thought as I checked on the other girl. She had shoulder-length golden hair and pale skin. Human, judging by her ears. Her breathing was ragged but her outer condition was improving, slowly, but improving. It would also seem as if someone either heard the door open or find the bodies, as I heard shouting, bells ringing, and footsteps approaching. A moment later a troll entered through the doorway. 

~~~~~

      My eyes were heavy, and my body was sore. I opened my eyes and saw a person before me, on top of a dying troll, I think he heard my groans because he turned to look at me - he was an elf - he had short brown hair, a fair complexion and emerald green pair of eyes. He said, "Don't worry, I'll get you out of this mess, just sit tight and let the draught do its work. It'll be over soon." He winked at me with a smile and a pair of eyes that said sorry, that went away quickly as he turned to look at the doorway with a face that screamed of a killer. I shouldn't mess with him, I thought, looking at his sword, it was short but looked absolutely lethal in his hands.

       He left right after that, probably to kill the rest of those little fuckers. I tried to collect myself  - and saw Silvia. She had a small slit in her chest, where her heart was. I teared up and hugged her. I then noticed the white stuff under her and guessed what happened. A few moments later I felt well enough to move. I walked past the troll and saw utter carnage before me. There were three dead goblins in the short hallway ahead and sounds of battle ahead outside. The elf was currently cutting down a horde of goblins and trolls. He was a demon in elven form, dancing gracefully through the horde of monsters, cutting them down with brutal efficiency. He slit a goblin's throat that tried to stab him with a crude dagger, then threw a dagger to his left, not looking to see if he hit anything or not.

      He then grabbed a spear from his back and hurled it with perfect precision at a troll, hitting it in the chest and using it as a step, getting on top of the troll and stabbing it in the neck with a dagger, killing it. He hopped off it and landed in the middle of a small group of goblins. I had to turn away from the massacre in front of me. I wasn't used to this, we were supposed to kill a few little green monsters, yeah there would be blood, but not this much. 

      A few more minutes passed and the sounds of battle died down. Finally. This wasn't worth it, nuh-uh. I heard footsteps approaching and I turned to see the elf covered in blood, both his and theirs, chugging a potion. "You still alive missie? I'm sorry this all happened to your group. I ran here as soon as I could when I heard the announcement. Are you ok? We need to get back to Morden to treat our wounds and give our report. I got a horse, so let's head out, unless you want to pay your respects to your dead friends. I know the feeling but you need to make it quick cuz one of those witless grunge-munchers hit me pretty hard." I gave him a nod in response and went to say my goodbyes.

~~~~~

        That poor girl. Had her whole world turned upside down cuz of some bad info. This world sucks. 

        A few minutes later she left the prison with a solemn expression and we left this place to rot. I don't want to come back here ever again.

SupremeTab

Ugh, I really didn't enjoy writing this chapter, if this turns you guys off then I'm sorry for that, but I thought this to be necessary to the development of the story. Sometimes a mistake, even a few left out words, can end in innocent, young kids dying. But, please know that I don't' plan on anything like this happening for a while, so the next chapters will be much lighter. Once again, I thought this necessary. Thank you for reading.