As we headed to the cave, I had one question on my mind. I could understand why they took the livestock, but the maidens. Well I did have an idea why that might be the case having read something in a fantasy along those lines back home, but I really didn't want that to be the case here. Not if I was to be part of the rescue party, that was something I didn't want to see and then there was the fact that I was going in there with three female party members. As we left the village, I decided to ask the question. Knowing in advance seemed the better of options.

"Hey Lillia." I called out as I followed her.

"What is it?"

"Why would the goblins take the maidens from the village?"

"For food or worse…"

I didn't want to ask for a further explanation I just took my guess for being correct. Then as we spoke Altria having overheard our conversation decided to join in.

"Well, as a race they don't have any females. They can reproduce asexually, but that requires time and it's time that puts that particular goblin out of action. So, in some cases if they want to increase their numbers, without temporarily reducing their strength, they will steal females and impregnate them. Any of the humanoid races will suffice." She explained matter-of-factly.

"Right, thanks Altria."

At least I could hope they were only keeping them for food. About a mile out from the village we enter an old wood, full of gnarled trees and undergrowth. It was dark inside, the perfect place for a goblin cave to be located. As we ventured inside it was time to fall into formation. Altria took the lead as usual, this time Serin was next, With Lillia and me taking up the rear. Every step took us closer to the cave, so we had to be careful. They weren't quite as intelligent as humans, but they weren't stupid either and had keen senses, we would have to be careful to make it all the way to the entrance without being detected.

The extra caution meant our pace had slowed considerably and the final mile to the cave took almost twice as long as the first. I couldn't even make out the entrance when Altria stopped and gave the hand signal for the group to stop. We all crept to where Altria was waiting, as stealthily as we could. Once we got there it was clear why she had given the signal. We were fortunate enough to be down wind and have a bush as cover, because about a hundred and fifty meters up ahead was the entrance to the goblin cave. I could spot at least two visible guards at the doorway.

"What's the situation Altria?" Lillia asked under her breath.

"Two at the entrance and there's another one a little way out in front in the undergrowth."

I could see the two near cave entrance, but I had no clue where the third was.

"Can you take them out from here without them raising the alarm?" Asked Lillia.

"No problem. Just give the signal."

Lillia turned to me and Serin.

"Are you to ready to go?"

"Yes." Answered Serin without even blinking.

"Err, what are we doing?" I asked.

"We're going to head inside and kill the goblins, once Altria has taken out the guards." Lillia explained.

"Right, but what's the plan?"

"Don't get killed… But seriously, until we get inside and work out what's what, we can't plan far ahead. Keep the formation and listen to Altria and me about where to step. Our night sight is much better than that of a human."

"Okay."

Lillia turned back to Altria who was waiting with her bow at the ready.

"Do it." Instructed Lillia.

Altria didn't need telling twice. Her hands became a blur of movement and two arrows flew almost simultaneously. The guards stood at the cave entrance were both hit with headshots and fell to the ground. The goblin that was hidden in the undergrowth briefly popped its head up to see what the noise from behind was. It was more than enough time for Altria to dispatch it in exactly the same manner as the guards at the entrance. After all three had fallen we waited for a few moments to see if there would be any response from inside. When no response came Lillia gave the order.

"Let's move in. Altria take the front, Serin back her up, Theo you're with me."

The entire party made our way forward, keeping to the undergrowth as much as possible as we went.

"Leave the one in the undergrowth there, but let's drag the other two into the bushes. It won't take long for them to be found, but it'll buy us a little time." Instructed Lillia.

Lillia and I took one while Altria took the other, it only took us a moment to hide them out of sight. I had to admit it was one of the most sensible decisions I'd seen Lillia make so far. Once we were done, we moved on to the entrance. Even several paces away from the cave the stench was overwhelming. It was a mixture of rotting corpses, faecal matter and vomit. The first breath I took of the stench nearly turned my stomach.

"Try to take small breaths to start with, it won't go away, but it gets slightly manageable with time." Lillia explained seeing the putrid look on my face.

"Thanks."

At this point I would have happily traded every piece of armour I was wearing for a decent face mask. The group inched forward to the entrance, just as we reached the threshold Altria signalled us to stop.

"What is it?" Asked Lillia.

"Keep to the left wall there's a well hidden pitfall at the cave mouth." Explained Altria.

"You heard her."

Altria stepped forward keeping to the far left side of the cave entrance, Serin followed in her steps. I followed close behind, but even when I walked right past the place that Altria had pointed out I still couldn't make out a thing. If I had walked in there alone, I would have fallen straight into the trap. Once we were a few feet inside the cave, Altria gave the all clear signal and we were able to spread out once again. Before we moved any further each of the girls pulled out a small lantern, with a glowing stone inside. I had seen Serin use one before. Altria pulled out a spare and passed it to me.

"Attach this to your belt." She instructed.

"Won't these attract their attention?"

"They can see in the dark."

"Right."

"And would you prefer to fall into a pitfall or accidently slash one of your companions for a little extra stealth?"

"No, of course, not."

Once we had all attached the little lanterns it was time to move on. We followed the passageway, it seemed to be moving to the left and deeper into the ground. Altria would occasionally halt the group to point out a trap to avoid, but apart from that we encountered no trouble as we made our way down. After about ten minutes of carefully heading deeper into the cave we reached a fork in the passage. The way ahead was split into three directions. The passage that led off to our left seemed to be the main source of the disgusting smell, but even more disconcerting than that was the noises that were coming from the passage that branched to the right. It was the sound of women being tortured, their screams made my skin crawl.

"Which way Lillia? It's your call." Asked Altria as we stopped at the split.

"Straight ahead." Lillia answered without a moment's consideration.

"Okay." Altria started to move into the passage that led straight on.

"Hold on. Are we just going to leave them?" I asked, feeling a little disturbed by the decision.

"Yes, at least for now." Answered Lillia.

"What?"

"Believe me, all I want to do is go down there and release them, but we can't do that. The main nest is likely up ahead. If we go this way, we have a chance of catching most of them asleep or unawares. If we go down there and make a racket we could bring the whole nest down on us on one go. It's the worst odds for us and for those women."

"Fine." I didn't like it, but Lillia was right, she knew what she was doing here, and I couldn't argue with that logic.

With the discussion over Altria led the way forward and the rest of the party followed her lead. The path led straight down for some way until we reached a slight bend in the path. As we approached the bend Altria halted the party. No one spoke a word. We could all make out the sound of at least two beasts chattering away just on the other side of the bend. This was it. We were likely approaching the heart of the nest and the best we could hope for here was that most of them were asleep and the noise was only coming from guards up ahead. There was no discussion, Altria made a hand signal to Serin, who knew exactly what to do and moved forward to back up Altria. Altria readied her bow before glancing back for the okay from Lillia. She was met with a simple nod of the head from Lillia.