Remembering one of Barius’s moves, Jig took a quick half-step and lunged. He overbalanced and almost fell, but his sword bit into the guard’s stomach. Jig caught himself, pulled the sword free, and spun around before the other guard had figured out what was happening.

Jig pointed his sword at the other guard, ignoring the groaning goblin on the floor. Doing his best to mimic Barius in voice and posture, he said, “I told you we need to see the chief.”

“But . . .” The guard glanced at his bleeding companion. He stared at the sword in Jig’s hand, his eyes focusing on the blue smear of blood. He took a step back, and the tip of Jig’s sword followed him.

“Right,” he said meekly. “Sorry about that.”

Jig nodded. He lowered his sword, hoping the guard hadn’t noticed how his arm shook. Dramatic poses were hard! Even a short sword got heavy if you held it outstretched for very long.

“Come on,” he said to Riana. He led them down the tunnel toward the main cavern. He hoped he hadn’t killed the guard. He had come here to help the goblins. Though eliminating some of the stupider guards might be construed as helping. He would have to think about that later. For now, getting past the guards had been the easy part. Getting past the hundreds of goblins they were sure to encounter next would be a much larger challenge.

Apparently Riana was having similar thoughts. As they neared the jagged entrance, she whispered, “Do you have a plan, or was this just another way to commit suicide?”

“Suicide,” Jig answered. Plans were for adventurers. He preferred the goblin approach. Blind panic might not work all the time, but at least it saved you the stress of planning.

He blinked. Panic might be exactly what he needed. His jaw jutted into a wide grin. “Come on,” he said, grabbing Riana’s arm.

“If this doesn’t work, I’m going to make sure you die with me.” But she sounded resigned, not angry.

“If this doesn’t work, I’m sure I will.”

A hundred goblin voices washed together in a low roar as they walked into the room. The noise died within seconds as the goblins stared at Jig and Riana, trying to understand what they were doing here, so obviously out of place. At any moment, someone would cry out and send the cavern into total chaos. Jig wanted to make sure that someone was him.

“Adventurers!” he screamed at top volume. He waved his bloody sword in the air, hoping nobody would remember that adventurers tended to bleed red, not blue. “They’re attacking the guards! Where’s the chief? I have a deserter from their party who can help.”