Snorri instinctively threw the heavy two-handed sword directly at Davak, the Goblin. As the sword left his hand, Snorri realized how stupid he had been to attempt to throw a sword chained to his wrist. To his amazement, the metal bracelet attached to his wrist glowed a dark, smoldering red, and new chain links quickly formed, allowing the perfect amount of resistance for the blade to sail easily through the air for the five feet or so between Snorri and the goblin. The sword pierced the goblin directly through the beast's hunched back. It shrieked in agony as Arracop's voice bellowed to Snorri, “PULL ME FREE!” Snorri clasped the chain and pulled hard. As the blade came free with a wet squelch and a spray of bright green, the chain links receded into the bracelet, pulling the blade in a neat spiral nearly back into Snorri’s hand. Arracop let out a deep, bellowing laugh in Snorri's mind, and red flames flickered across the blade once again.
“It killed Davak!” screamed the smaller of the now remaining two goblins in the ruined classroom. “This ain't good, Rob,” the larger of the two goblins gave his partner a shifty look.
“Best we do it together, then, mate,” said the larger goblin, poking the smaller towards Snorri with the tip of his sword. Snorri panted and tried to keep his eyes trained on both goblins as they split up and circled the room toward him. “Who first?” he thought to Arracop as his enemies hurriedly closed the gap between them. Yet again, Snorri thought he could hear Arracop clicking his fangs in thought before the spider hurriedly said, “The smaller one... Charge him… NOW!” Arracop said quickly, finishing in a roar. The smaller goblin roared and swung its crudely forged metal blade high above its head, clearly unprepared for Snorri’s sudden aggressive charge. Snorri tackled the goblin to the ground, raising Arracop to plunge down into the goblin’s beady little eyeball. But he was sent tumbling across the floor as the larger goblin placed a strong kick into the small of Snorri’s back.
The gnome wheezed as he clattered across the floor. “Get up, mate. You look pathetic,” snarled the larger goblin to his floor-bound comrade. “Get up,” Arracop screamed in a chilling echo of the goblin. Snorri jumped to his feet, the sword's handle somehow swinging back into his hand as he sprung up. The smaller goblin wheezed as he slowly stood up, a spark of fear now settling in its evil little mind. The goblins advanced on Snorri, finally coming at him together. Snorri raised Arracop in both hands as the pair advanced on him. “Big one, go low,” hissed Arracop. Snorri dove to the left as the goblin blades flew towards him. Arracop slashed forward with a snicker-snack, cleaving the larger goblin's leg from his body.
Snorri felt a searing pain burn through his right leg. He turned in horror to see the smaller goblin's sword wrenching free of his lower leg, dark crimson blood soaking his tattered academy robes. “Strike now. Ignore the pain,” Arracop hissed. Snorri instinctively threw the sword at the smaller goblin. Arracop plunged into the goblin's still gloating head with a wet sounding thud, and the goblin's yelping laughter died away instantly. Snorri pulled Arracop's sword free. Green goblin blood oozed from where the creature's eye had been a second before as the sword returned once again to Snorri's hand.
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Snorri had to think fast; he was losing blood quickly. He painfully limped to the green goblin fire, still crackling away smokeless next to the piles of bloody academy robes and the piles of meat. Snorri hesitated, a curious-faced student with red hair flashed into his mind's eye. He buried the memory deep and tried to think. After a moment, he dropped the sword's blade into the fire. “Fool,” came Arracop's voice. “FIRE WILL NOT RELEASE YOU FROM OUR BARGAIN.” Snorri carried on staring at the blade in the fire, watching the metal get hotter and hotter. “You owe me nine hundred and six souls, Snorrison. You will not be free until I am compensated,” roared Arracop in his head. Snorri had no energy left to converse with the spider creature and merely let him ramble on, paying him little attention.
The blade soon turned yellow with heat. Snorri looked down at the large gash in his lower leg. He tore away the leg of his robes, balled the material up tight, and placed it in his mouth. Snorri pulled the blade from the flickering green flames. Snorri bit down on the layers of thick woven cloth in his mouth and pressed the burning-hot metal onto the wound. Most of his screams were muffled by his clenching teeth. Pain blurred his vision. “Oh, you clever little thing,” came Arracop's voice. Snorri spat the wad of cloth from his mouth, spitting to remove the taste of blood. He sat for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts.
Suddenly a voice echoed from beyond the archway that had once contained the classroom’s door. “Ere you lot, what's all that screaming about? We've got orders, ya know,” came a squealing goblin voice from the corridor. The largest goblin, the one whose leg had been cut off by Snorri, suddenly began shrieking, “Be careful, boss. It's in here. It killed all the boys.” He shrieked toward the door, but that was impossible. That goblin had been dead. Snorri was sure of it. Whatever energy the goblin had been hiding clearly ran out as his shrieks ended in a low gurgling sound, and his body finally went limp. “Ah yes, I forgot about that particular ability of our little green friends,” muttered Arracop. Snorri scowled. “What ability?” he hastily thought.
“I believe it's called 'The Last Word.' Goblins near death can use it to warn others of their kind, even after they've fallen. Most of them just use it to throw one last insult. You must've really scared him,” explained Arracop. A low growl came from beyond the archway. Snorri pushed himself unsteadily to his feet and pulled Arracop into a two-handed grip. A large goblin hunched its way into the room, dressed in plate mail, crudely forged from the same metal as a large hulking axe. His eye narrowed in on Snorri, and he let out a low growl.