Only then did it occur to Jig to wonder why he could see everything so well. His own aborted blaze had lit the tunnel well enough, but it should have ruined his dark-vision. In fact, if it weren’t for the torchlight behind him, he would be completely blind.

His first theory was that Porak and the others had come to see what was wrong. But they would have started laughing at Jig’s misfortune. Since Jig heard no laughter, whoever had come up behind him wasn’t a goblin. What was the expression surface-dwellers used at times like this?

“Oh, dung.” He turned around.

It was the human he had heard earlier. In one hand the human held a blazing torch. The other pointed a long sword at Jig. A long, gleaming, very sharp sword. Jig bet the blade didn’t wobble in its handle either.

“Draw a weapon or cry out for aid and you’ll never draw breath again.”

Jig blinked. What was he going to do, scramble for his kitchen knife? He should probably call for help though. Porak’s orders. He had to warn the others. It was his duty.

It was an awfully big sword.

“A wise choice. Turn around, and walk into that room up there.”

The human followed him to the room Jig had always thought of as the shiny room. Tiny glass tiles, no larger than his fingernails, covered the entire ceiling in sparkles of color. The ceiling domed upward, and the swirls of blue, green, and red all merged into a spectacular fireburst at the center.

Even with a sword at his back, Jig couldn’t help but look up as he entered. The adventurers had a small fire going, and the reflected firelight danced on the tiles, turning them into a thousand jewels.

“What’s this?” It was the gravelly voice Jig had heard earlier, and it came from a four-foot tall mountain of muscle, armor, and tangled black hair. In other words, a dwarf.

“I found him snooping up yonder passage.” The human sheathed his sword. “Not much of a spy. He set himself aflame in his panic.”

The dwarf laughed. In barely understandable Goblin, he asked “You lived here long?” Without waiting for an answer, he jumped to his feet and waved a large sheet of parchment in Jig’s face. “We’ve got ourselves a room here that’s thirteen and a half paces by twelve paces with a door in each wall. I don’t suppose you’d be knowing which of those doors will take us to the deep tunnels?”

Jig shook his head and backed into a corner. “I was lost myself,” he lied.

The human laughed again. “Probably true, Darnak. Even for a goblin, he has the look of a kitchen drudge. Perhaps a bit thick in the head as well.”