"Please let us see this through safely..."

The Wizard bit back a sigh as the Priestess stood there muttering some kind of prayer, ever since they arrived at the cave the girl had been questioning, complaining and flinching at shadows. Now this. Fed up she lightly hit the muttering Priestess on the shoulder.

"Come on hurry up, Keep in line." Wizard said firmly, her authoritative tone making the other girl jump.

"Oh, Right. Sorry." She mummered breaking into a light jog to catch up. Wizard was a step behind, holding up the rear as agreed. The Cave echoed with their foot falls, the dim light of Warriors torch in the distance. Out of no where the Priestess stopped, Wizard nearly colliding with her.

"Oh, What is it now?" Her patience wearing ever thinner as the blond cast her a concerned look, shivering slightly.

"Just now... I heard something c-crumbling".

"Where? From in front of us?"

"No, b-behind."

This time Wizard didn't hold back the annoyed sigh that escaped her lips. Miracles or not it was becoming more and more clear she was a liability... Warrior wasn't bright but made up for it with energy and confidence, with the much more dependable Fighter also holding down the front the Priestess and herself should be fine to support from the back. It was basic but it would work, why couldn't she see that? The shadows darkened even further as their front-liners continued ahead with out them. The two spell caster nearly in complete darkness...

"Look," she leveled the Priestess with a firm glare. "We've been walking in a straight line ever since we entered. There's no way they could be behi-" even as the words left her mouth she heard the shifting of stones, and patter of small feet. The priestess' fearful gasp felt appropriate for the first time as she turned to source of the sound. "Goblins!" she took an involuntary step back.

Their eerie grins and yellow eyes could be seen in the dim cave. They wore nothing but tattered loincloths, each wielding a small blade or club. Their gibbering laughter sent a cold shiver down her spine. She gripped her garnet-tipped staff tightly, her graduation gift from the academy and her pride began to overcome her fear. They came to this cave to fight goblins hadn't they. All she had to do is get them to back off long enough the others could make it back. They were weak so with a show of power...

"Sagiita...inflammarae...radius!" The Wizard aimed toward the closest goblin that was charging forward with abandon. "Arrow of Flame, Emerge!" An arrow shaped from the fire itself shot out of the fist-sized garnet at the tip of her staff and hit the goblin square in the chest. It squealed in pain as the cave was filled with the smell of burning flesh. The charred corpse falling to the ground, still smoldering. Adrenaline surged, a wild smile crossing her lips. Her first kill, they died so easily. Confidence rising she prepared to cast again, words of power flowing out as she took aim once more. "Sagiita... Infl-"

"Look out!" The Wizard felt herself being pulled backward, losing her concentration as she stumbled. The priestess had interrupted her casting, didn't she know how dangerous that was? Before she could chew the girl out she lost her words with the sound of a crack of a club against the Priestess' skull. The healer slumped forward as as five goblins grabbed the girl's limp limbs, throwing aside her sounding staff like it was trash as they began to tear away at her clothes. Had there always been that many, The wizard only had seen three before, how many more were hiding in the dark? Shaking herself from her stupor she raised her staff, intent on blasting them off of the young healer but there was no way she could without hurting her in the process. The goblins seemed to realize this as they all stayed with in a hands reach of the girl Laughing as the redhead bit her lip in frustration.

"Get away from her you beasts!" Warrior charged forward catching one of the ambushers in the head with his long sword and causing the others the scatter. Fighter was only a step behind trying to take the scene in all at once. The Priestess lay face down on the cave floor unmoving, clothes half torn from her body. Warrior was keeping the gibbering horde at bay with long sweeping strikes while the Wizard stood, her former calm demeanor shaken and frazzled.

"What happened?"

"We got overwhelmed, she... she saved me." The words fell from the Wizard's mouth as if she'd only just realized herself. Her gaze tilted down to the Priestess' body, to the deep red on the back of her head staining her golden locks.

"See if you can wake her up, Maybe she can heal herself." it was a weak suggestion, but it wasn't like they had a lot of options. "I'm going to help clear up the goblins."

"Um, Right." Given a task to focus on she put the rest aside. she crouched down and carefully turned the girl over. She new little of first aid or head wounds but it was clearly serious. The Priestess was pale but she was still breathing, if a bit shallow. There was visible bruising on her arms from the goblins rough treatment but noting else that seemed serious. Placing her staff down she tried touch the girl's face to get a reaction, afraid of shaking the girl and causing more damage. She groaned weakling but did little else, she could hear the sounds of arguments and combat but tried to focus past them. Maybe some water would help?

"Take this!" The awful clang of metal on stone pulled the Wizard's attention from her work. She looked up in time to see Warrior swarmed as his blade fell from his hand. Crude blades and clubs pummeled the boy relentlessly his grunts and screams waning into terrifying silence.

"Oh gods..." He was... unbidden a vision of a boisterous greeting in the tavern, Warrior taking a seat across from her. He gave her wide smile, introducing The Fighter and presenting her with an offer to form a group. They spent the rest of the afternoon exchanging stories and goals.

"Take the Priestess and get out of here." The Fighter's words brought her back to the present. "If you can get her back to town she can be treated." The girl stood in front of her fists clenched tightly, shoulders shaking. Her voice tight with anger. "I'll hold them off."

"Wait, you can't take them out on your own!" Wizard pleaded but Fighter had already moved in to engage. Or perhaps she could, the little mosters seemed crumble instantly under the other girl's thunderous strikes. She be lying if the sounds of goblins ribs cracking weren't satisfying.

But then IT showed up... It as far too big to be goblin, a towering mass of muscle that caught the Fighter's foot mid kick and began to twist her leg painfully, a sick grin coming too it's lips.

"No!" The Wizard grabbed her staff and aimed it with purpose. It was a big enough target. "Sagiita inflammarae...radius! Arrow of Flame, Emerge" There was no hesitation this time, The arrow shot out and took the beast in the head causing him to let the Fighter go, she fell forward to the cave floor clutching her injured leg. Unlike the Goblin, this beast was not felled, it turned sharply toward the wizard, half it's face charred, it's unburnt eye glaring with pure hatred.

"GAOR!" It bellowed in rage and charged... All she could do was run. She ran as hard and fast as she could toward the exit, the heavy plodding of her pursuer getting closer and closer. She gasped deep for breath, her legs already starting to ache. It seemed years of study had helped her mind expand well beyond her years but perhaps at a cost to her physical stamina... something swept her legs sending her tumbling to the ground. Her prized staff falling from her grip as she tried to keep herself from landing awkwardly. Before she could even piece together what happened a meaty hand grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up until her feet dangled off the floor. She felt her breath leave her as she was slammed into the cave wall, the grip on her throat preventing any new air from coming in. She kicked weakly but the beast barely moved. He grinned as she grew weaker, grunting out a deep laughter... her vision grew dark, already blurry from losing her glasses. At what point along the way she wasn't certain, it was getting harder to think clearly...

For a brief moment she thought she saw light further down the path, She must really be seeing things. After all there would be no way a Knight would wander into a cave like this... Before consciousness fully left her she felt a spray of something wet and sticky over her face and chest as the beast released his grip. She fell to her knees choking and gasping for precious air, the beast toppling backward with solid thud.

"That's One..." A man's voice commented, calm as one would talk about the weather. She wiped her eyes from whatever had gotten in them only to see the monster vanquished, it's throat slit with an almost comical expression of shock frozen on it's face. She squinted, trying to get a clearer look at her blurry savior. Calling him a knight was more then a bit generous. The Man wore a grimy steel helmet that obscured his face. His armor was a mix of dark leather and chain. A small round shield was strapped to his arm, in his other hand was a sword of an unusual length, the monster's blood dripping from it's edge. The equipment was universally cheap but all seemed to have some kind of purpose.

"Who... are you?" She managed to choke out when she finally got enough breath back. The Man tilted his helmet ever so slightly before he spoke.

"Goblin Slayer."

AN: After years of not writing, I've finally started fics again... feels good to get a fresh start with a new series I've fallen for. So this was an idea I had back toward the beginning of the season, I enjoy thinking about What Ifs and this seemed a pretty clear cut concept. What if the 'lone survivor' of the doomed newbie group was someone other then Priestess? We'll be using the Light novels as a basis but I may take aspects of the other media if I think it's interesting. There is one really hard part to all this... Priestess is my favorite character in the series. The things I do for fics *sighs*

Why Wizard? The Fighter is pretty well liked in the fandom and has a few redemption fics out there... the The Warrior is pretty bog standard shonen protagonist so didn't really jump out at me. But The Wizard offered something new to explore... Arcane Magic. Plus she seemed like she had some spunk and pride if lacking in some tact...

Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy Wizard's Journey as Much as I'm having writing it. See you in Chapter 2!