“Shut up!” The little fairy flew into the air and shouted. Spit sprayed Jig’s face. “You know nothing of the sacrifices I’ve made. Stupid goblin. Within an hour, I’ll give you a few sips from my beautiful fountain, and you’ll never worry about anything again. But for me, there’s always something to worry about. What if the magic wears off? What if a stronger mage comes after me?” He looked around fearfully. “What if Straum comes to take my beautiful lair?”

“I don’t think he’d fit,” Jig pointed out. “And doesn’t Straum already have a lair of his own?”

The Necromancer blinked. “I suppose so. See, that’s why I chose you. You’re a smart one.” He waved at one of the creatures. “Take the dwarf and the goblin to the fountain and drown them.”

He winked at Jig. “That way you’ll be sure to swallow some of the potion as you die. I’ve tried a lot of ways, and trust me, this is the best. Why, once I even changed a man into a fish and dropped him into the fountain. It worked, but I wound up with an undead bass. It’s no good, you know. You can’t kill an undead bass. I took him out of the water, and he flopped about for hours and hours until I finally had one of my warriors stomp on the poor thing. Laughed for days about that one, I did.”

“What are you going to do with me?” Barius asked. “With us?”

The Necromancer’s eyes sparkled merrily. “It’s a surprise.”

Unfair, Jig thought. Barius and the others would probably be taken prisoner, left in a dungeon somewhere until Riana helped them break out. That’s what always happened. No matter how secure the dungeon, the heroes always managed to escape. Luck favored adventurers, while goblins got dragged off to be drowned. Why him?

The question burned in Jig’s brain. Why was he the one to be kicked around by the prince? Why, when he tried to help Riana, did he get threatened and punched and end up with everyone hating him? How had he ended up with this doomed party, fighting dead warriors and eating bread? Bread which, as it turned out, gave him terrible gas in addition to having no taste. He hadn’t seen a proper privy in a day and a half, and this pissing in corners was a thing for beasts. Why had he been born a goblin at all? Sure, he was smart for a goblin. Look where it had brought him. Had he died with Porak and the others, at least it would have been a fast death. Why in Shadowstar’s name couldn’t things go right for him, just this once?

Why, in my name, don’t you quit whining and do something for yourself, just this once?

Jig froze. “Who said that?”

The Necromancer frowned. “What?”