A little clean up

Smacking the bandit leader awake after mending his wounds a tiny bit, Jay and Kathariel were starting to question him what the bandits were planning.

At the same time, the workers had started to move the barricades away and pile up the corpses. The Lieutenant had ordered them to pull the victims next to the barn with some distance.

Some were even to pull out the Arrows that were still intact.

Only towards the field with the splattered bodies no one wanted to go.

"So, why did you attack the Furbow's Farm?" J.

"..." Bandit

"May be we should help his memories a bit...He still has one arm left?" K.

"Okay, okay, okay... we were ordered to do it." Bandit

"By whom and Why?" J.

"Dunno... orders' coming in by a courier. As to why, we've taken over a lot of farms as relay points." Bandit

"See, it's easy to talk with us, right? Where did your attack start from?" K.

"Normally our fighters stay at a taken over farm and a capable unit takes over the next one. Later the main force follows..." Bandit

"Then where is the main force?" J.

Silence.

Not just the bandit, even Kathariel looked at Jay as if he asked something out of this world.

Creasing their brows, they waited for Jay to go on in hopes his question had been a joke.

"What?..." J.

"You just slaughtered the main force!" Bandit

"...Oh...." J.

Suddenly both, Kathariel and Jay started to chuckle, raising it to loud laughter after some seconds.

The bandit laying beneath them got increasingly pale and sweat beads rolled down his forehead. Only then did he get a premonition as to what those two would do with him when they found out he didn't know anything else.

But to the bandits surprise, they didn't even question further as the female elf had already stated he wouldn't know more.

After that they affixed the bandit leaders remaining arm to a bar on the wall and helped moving the barricades and corpses.

Over an hour later, as they were discussing what to do with the bloody field no one wanted to touch, one of the workers spotted torches coming closer.

After getting a little startled at first, Jay and Kathariel saw it was a military unit from how orderly they moved.

A short few minutes later, the unit arrived at the yard. They were led by the same guard Captain they met at the border, who jumped from his horse and rushed over as he spotted the two.

"I am sorry we are this late. It seems you really were right. How many losses did you have?" G.C.

"None." K.

"Puh, I'm glad to hear this. Where is the rest of your unit?" G.C.

"He's sitting over there..." K.

"..." G.C.

From then on the guard Captain took over the management and his men went to do the clean up.

Another hour later the gigantic pile of corpses was burning and the farm was back to normal. Only the bloody soldiers and some damages remained.

Jay and Kathariel said their goodbyes after everyone on the farm thanked them again. Even the guard Captain did the same and promised Jay to notify the Guild as Theodore Furbow had stated it before.

As they were strolling along the path through the fields, the sun began to rise.

In the dim morning light, Jay and Kathariel noticed for the first time how they looked and smelled. The fight had been one thing, but moving the bloody corpses had soaked them.

"I guess it's best we wash ourselves before we get back to the Jansens..." K.

"You like them, right?" J.

"..." K.

"You are right, it would probably shock them seeing us this way and we would only dirty their home..." J.

"Thanks..." K.

After they left the small path and were about to cross a small road in a valley between the farms, they followed it to the north.

Not even a mile later they arrived at the beach on the northern shore. Jay stopped there for a moment as he stepped on the sand and faced to the sea.

The rising sun barely peeked over the mountains to his right, with even higher mountains barely visible in the distance. To the left side, all he saw was just the ocean and the flat horizon, giving him a fantastic view.

As he heard rustling next to him ans something lightly dropping to the ground, Jay snapped back to reality.

Kathariel, who had dropped her weapon belt and bow, was walking towards the water. Looking back and asking him to follow, Jay tried to close up.

The water was cold, but as the climate was pretty mild in this region he could bear with it. They moved a little around in the water after most of the blood got washed out. With everything clear to a acceptable degree, Jay sat down on the wet sand where the water sill reached and again relished the fantastic sight.

And that view got even more fantastic as Kathariel suddenly started to strip down and re-enter the water.

Her lithe figure with those unexpectedly notable and firm breasts and her perk butt on full display, she walked halfway into the water until she turned around.

"Don't tell me you won't clean yourself properly? Or are you shying away?" K.

"Nah, coming..." J.

Though she asked it with a smirk, clearly trying to jibe at Jay for a bit, she got silenced seconds later.

After pulling off the already open leather armor and his silken shirt, Jay had pulled down his pants without wait. His weapons had already been stored inside his inventory from the beginning.

Just one other sword was dangling on him.

And it was this, what silenced the slender elf. Not able to pull away her eyes, she blinked a few times until she was able to pull her eyes away.

"The water really is cold, huh?" J.

Before she managed to dive under water after turning around, Jay was sure he saw her long and slender ears turn red.

Following her suite, Jay jumped in an arc and dived after her.

At least he tried.

The moment he went under water, he flapped around like a child learning to swim.

It was the same as back then with the murlocs.

His diving was miserable. As long as he was at the shore or on the surface, he managed somehow.

Though he knew he learned swimming in his old life and wasn't bad at it, this body of his wouldn't listen under water.

Giving up on diving after her, Jay drifted on the surface. He laid on his back with his arms spread wide and inhaled deeply.

Some seconds later a splash sounded next to him and Kathariel's head peeked out. After looking at his face for a second, her eyes couldn't help but wander down to his nethers again. It didn't really help that his manhood was drifting on the surface...

A few minutes later, the sun showing herself more and more, Jay and Kathariel went out of the water and wore their clothes.

The sand in their boots was unpleasant, but they could manage for the ralatively short way back to the farm. It was already visible from where they stood, atop the small cliff, not a mile away in direct line.

Marching back the same road they came on to the beach and turning left to the farm, Kathariel broke the eerie silence that had arisen since their bath.

"You know, I think you should get yourself a bound bow in the near future..." K.

"A bound bow?" J.

"I had a guess you don't know. It's a magic weapon,...or a spell... something in between? Basically it's a weapon you can summon and has the same properties as the physical counterpart. Only the magic power of the wielder is included in the power it holds.

So with your magic power and your half bad bow skill, you could be a really good arcane sniper..." K.

"And where do I get such a bow?" J.

"Not a bow, a spell!" K.

"Okay, where do I get such a spell?" J.

"I don't really know. May be in the mages quarter or the academy? May be at other cities like Geffen or Dun Modan?" K.

Deciding to look out for those spells as they sounded really like the perfect fit for him, Jay didn't inquire any further.

They had reached the Jansens yard anyway, and all that Jay wanted to do now, was sleeping.

The Jansens had apparently waited for them to return and after Kathariel briefly recounted what had happened, they finally got to their rooms. Two minutes later he closed his eyes under a fresh blanket and fell into a deep sleep.

Woken up by a knock, Jay shot up.

It had been quite some time since he didn't wake up to his inner clock. Trotting towards the door and opening it, it was Agnes Jansen standing in front of him and asking him to come down for lunch.

Donning his armor and taking his backpack with him, Jay left the small room and went to the dining table. Kathariel was already seated at the table and a healthy lunch had been prepared.

After they ate some of the stew, the two said their thanks and goodbyes.

It was time for them to take their mounts and saddle up.

Galloping down the road leading south and towards the main road, they soon turned right at the crossroad and rode towards the west. Though saying main road sounds different, but it was nothing more than an unpaved road leading through the landscape from the crossroad onwards.

To both Sides it was again just hills and field as far as the eyes could reach. Somewhere in the distance to the left Jay saw a farm or something similar.

Even his enormous eyesight wasn't enough to discern it.

The Furbow's Farm was out of sight as a hill blocked the view. Only their fields were to be seen to the right, and as they passed them, the scenery to their right changed drastically.

It was a small mountain range no more than five miles wide.

Some rock formations peaked out between the trees covering most of the area. Jay had no idea if it went all the way to the coast or if the fields of farmer Furbow went even around it.

"Just as we planned, we'll look at the Mine first." K.

"Anything I should know about the mine?" J.

"I guess Haggard explained most of it. We should expect Kobolds there, and not to few. But it should be no problem cleaning them out." K.

"Yeah, but those totems can change the situation pretty fast..." J.

Two miles further down the road, a small path led to the right. A sign pointing there had Jango-Lode written on it. The Lieutenant taking the lead rode uphill along the path and Jay followed her.

At a run down, open fence with warning signs they dismounted and Kathariel bound her steed to it.

Passing a narrow cleft behind that fence, they saw the entrance of the mine. It really looked abandoned to them, but exactly that was the problem.

"You said it's inhabited by Kobolds, right? Then, where are they? Kobold caves always do have a lookout!" J.

"I have no idea..." K.

"May be the bandits?" J.

"Though it's said the mine got shut down years ago after the turmoil in the Capital, it was always stated the mine had run dry. And even if it was caused by bandits... they would have a lookout as well." K.

The answer to their questions presented itself in the next moment as a small, ugly and green humanoid monster wobbled out of the mines entrance.

Looking at each other the felt a little stupid they hadn't thought of this possibility.

""Goblins..."" K./J.

With their simultaneous exclamation, the little green-skin got notice of them and turned around to warn the tribe. But an arrow through the back of it's head, exiting though its mouth, silenced it forever.

Getting closer to the mines entrance, Jay noticed small bones littered on the ground, as well as mining equipment, lores and so on. The two of them looked inside the entrance but couldn't either see or hear other monsters. Lighting two torches as the elf couldn't see in the dark, they took their first steps inside.

The mine was steep and went pretty deep down. They had taken to the right at every forking and Jay was sure they had reached sea level or even deeper as they came to a cliff.

To the left, a small path winded down along the cave wall but they took a peek down first.

And that was the right choice.

Down on the pretty large and illuminated caves ground, they saw dozens of Goblins. Only now did Jay understand why the mining tools and bones were littered around outside. The bones had been those of Kobolds.

Those damn Goblins had taken over the mine and used the whole population of Kobolds as livestock. With only a few of the ratlike monsters still alive, crammed into small cages, it was just a matter of days until the Goblins would swarm the surface.

The ones down there were gnawing on the remnant of a Kobold even at that moment.

And the population was growing fast, like it was always the case with those green pests.

They had to be cleaned out fast.

Asking Kathariel to wait up the cliff and support him with her bow, Jay took out hammer he had taken from the bandit leader. The weapon was noting special, without any enchantment and still blood red.

"You kept that thing?" K.

With a smirk, Jay jumped the over three yards down the cliff, readying the hammer midair. And poof went the first Goblin. Sorry for his gear getting dirty again, Jay started sweeping the floor with goblins.

A sound like eggs clashing against a wall resounded through the cave, only louder...

Kathariel supported Jay with cover fire to his blind spots.

After the few fights together they had a general understanding of each others movements and his wide movements with the monstrous weapon made covering him easy.

Spinning around and holding the hammer at the grips end, Jay smashed whatever the hammers head hit. Those measly level seven creatures had no resistance to the blunt force. A few Goblins that got neither shot nor ground to meat paste and stepped close to Jay, got simply mowed down by the weapons handle.

Even the cages holding the last Kobolds got destroyed at some point. The Kobolds though had even less chance of survival and nearly exploded on contact with the weapons head.

After a short three minutes it was over.

In the midst of mashed green and red, Jay leaned on the Hammer as the elf descended the slope. He had kept his clothes astonishingly clean, only his metal plated graves were mostly red.

He really had cleaned up the horde of Goblins, though that 'cleaning' was a little gory.