"Huuch! Daagaan an or huuch!?" Harsh, guttural words escaped the lip-less mouths of one of the creatures, larger and uglier than the others. With a shortsword that appeared to be little more than a jagged shard of obsidian tied to a makeshift hilt, the Goblin swung the blade about with as much refinement as a butcher with a cleaver. 

"Hegaan an huuch!" The Goblin spat, now pressing the sword's tip against Brennen's neck. His head tilted back as far as it could go, Brennen's lips twitched in fearful anticipation, ragged breaths leaving his chest. With only the slightest amount of pressure, the blade began to cut into his flesh, blood already starting to trickle from the wound. 

"I don't...know...what...you're asking me." Brennen plead in his defense, wincing as the sword dug slightly deeper, drawing more blood down his neck. 

"Hegaan huuch! Or o dhuul..." 

Brennen could've sworn the Goblin's rasping voice took a sinister edge, but had little time to focus as the Goblin's blade began to move, opening fresh cuts along his neck, only just skin-deep. Eyes slamming shut, Renault breathed in sharply as the stinging sensation followed the blade's trail. 

The spark he had been coaxing in his bound hands flared to life, unleashing a gout of flame that assailed one of the nearby trees. In only a few seconds, the familiar stench of smoke began to fill the air; as leaves and bark began to pop and smoke, fresh tongues of fire forming along the trunk.

Taken by surprise, the Goblin quickly withdrew the obsidian blade, barking commands to the other wretches, who scrambled frantically to try and put the fire out.