Looking closer, Jig saw that there were even tiny dark blue flowers, each one with a ball-like tip, to represent all the goblin blood. He overbalanced and fell into the flowers. One hand crushed a troll’s belly while the other flattened the end of a serpent’s tail. More pollen floated up to trigger a second sneezing fit.

Darnak grabbed Jig’s elbow and pulled him upright. “Come on. Once we reach Straum’s hoard, you’ll see something worth gawking at.”

The path through the garden was actually a sort of white grass, so low and soft it felt like feathers beneath Jig’s feet. As they neared the cave, Jig began to wonder why they hadn’t been attacked yet. Surely if Straum’s magic could create water sculpture and flower art like this, he would have no trouble adding a few spells to discourage intruders. Barius was so obsessed with his brother that he hadn’t bothered to look for traps along the path. At least Barius was in the lead, so if anything did happen, Jig would have the satisfaction of seeing it happen to him first.

Despite his worries, they reached the wall of the cavern. There, Darnak took a rope from his pack and handed it to Riana, the lightest in the group. She raised both eyebrows and handed the rope right back.

“Stick my head up there and let Straum burn it off? I think not.”

“My brother is up there, girl.” Barius pointed to an indentation in the grass, one that could have been made by the end of a staff. “I’ve defeated every foe and every trap we have encountered, and I’ll not be stopped by your stubbornness.”

Jig cocked his head. Barius had defeated everything? From the sound of his voice, he believed that, too. And he’d likely kill Riana if she pushed him much further.

“I’ll do it,” Jig said. He grabbed the rope from Darnak. “Boost me up.”

As he scrambled onto the dwarf’s shoulders, Jig wondered what had possessed him. Goblins were cowards—that was what helped them survive. So what was he doing poking his head into a dragon’s cave?

It’s simple—I’m hungry, I’m tired, and I don’t feel like waiting while they argue for the next hour. Perhaps courage was nothing more than impatience. Besides, the sooner he got away from the flowers, the quicker his eyes would stop watering.

His fingers caught the edge, and with some pushing from Darnak and Barius, he managed to swing one leg up. That, he decided, was a mistake. Pain tore through a very sensitive part of his anatomy. He pulled the other leg up quickly and rolled into the cave.