Besides, goblins weren’t welcome outside. Throughout history, every surface-dweller who came through that gate saw goblins as vermin to be wiped out. Bad enough that the occasional party came through on a killing rampage every few months. The outside world must be even worse, with thousands of people who would put an arrow into Jig as soon as they saw him. His ears would end up on a trophy necklace before he made it ten feet past the gate.

Still, it might be worth sneaking out some night if I could see all of this. That led to another thought. I wonder if we’ll see stars while we’re down here. From a little way off, Barius stood and shouted, “Darnak, come and see this.”

Darnak and the others hurried over to join the prince. On the way, Jig noticed the tied and bruised body of the wizard stretched out in the grass. Ryslind glared at him as he passed, and Jig glanced away quickly. He hoped they wouldn’t untie Ryslind anytime soon. A hundred years should be long enough.

Barius stood over the huge body of an ogre. Jig yelped and grabbed for his sword when he saw it. But the ogre wasn’t moving. To judge by the deep slashes across its chest and throat, it would never move again.

He noticed that Darnak’s hand had also gone to his weapon, which made him feel a little better.

“You did this, lad?” Darnak sounded impressed.

“Not I.” Barius knelt and pointed to the cuts on the chest. “Three deep cuts, all in a row. A fourth scraped the skin here.”

“Claws. Aye, I see it.” Darnak chewed at his thumb. “But what beast could best an ogre?”

A good question, Jig thought as he stared at the body. He had never seen an ogre, and now he prayed he would never see a living example. It must have stood over eight feet high, with muscular arms as long as Jig was tall. Its callused green skin looked tough enough to serve as light armor. Ragged black hair topped a long, oval head. The teeth, while shorter than goblin teeth, still looked sharp enough to do serious damage. The huge mouth meant the ogre had a lot more of them, too.

Something shiny caught Jig’s eye. A battle-axe, six feet long and double-headed, lay discarded in the grass to one side. Jig bent down and grabbed the handle to take it back to the others.

The axe didn’t budge. Off-balance, Jig stumbled to the ground. Maybe they should come here instead . “I found something.”

Darnak whistled when he saw the axe. The dwarf could lift it, but he needed both hands to raise it in the air, and Jig doubted even Darnak could swing such an axe in a fight.

“You think he was waiting for whoever fell through?” Darnak asked.

“If so, then whatever slew the beast has my gratitude,” Barius said.