“Oops.” He should have expected this. He should have wondered why none of the other goblins had followed him into the kitchen. Thinking back, he had heard the tone of the cavern change from confusion and anger to pain and fear. He had simply been too busy to understand what that change meant. “Hello, Barius.”

They stood at the entrance of the cavern, looking as though they had come straight out of a goblin’s nightmares. Jig remembered the first time he had seen the adventurers and compared their appearance then to the worn, dirty apparitions who now blocked his escape.

Darnak’s hair and beard were brown with dirt, and the tangles made him look like a walking nest for mice and other rodents. The fighting had cost him several scales from his armor, leaving bare patches of leather on his stomach, chest, and shoulder.

Prince Barius was even worse. His torn, blood-stained shirt, once immaculate, was little more than a rag. Black stubble covered his face, almost invisible under a layer of sweat-streaked dust. His boots were scuffed, his tights torn and dark with his own blood, and he favored his left leg when he moved. One of his eyes had puffed up with the beginning of a dark bruise.

The wizard showed the least wear. His robes were dirty but otherwise unscathed. His pouches were all in order, and his quiver, now almost empty of arrows, still hung at his side. Where the others looked worn and tired, Ryslind had only grown more dangerous. The emberlike glow of his eyes had intensified until they burned like angry flames, leaving Jig to wonder why the party bothered with the lantern anymore. They could send Ryslind ahead and light up entire tunnels. When Ryslind spoke, Jig could hear the overtones of Straum in his words.

“You found it.”

Before Jig could answer, an enraged voice behind him called out, “No, it’s mine!”

Golaka managed three steps before a wave of Ryslind’s hand flattened her against the wall. Pinned like a child, she could still rail against Jig and Riana and everyone else who had conspired to steal her spoon.

“Wizard, is it? Golaka’s not afraid of magic. Haven’t seen a wizard yet who could cast a spell with a knife in his gullet. Soon as I get down from here, I’ll give you a whipping to make you wish you died before you met me. As for you, little Jig, how funny do you think your little prank is now? You’d better hope the wizard and his friends kill you before I can get my hands on you. I’ll twist those ears right off your head and feed them to you.”