This started him wondering. If Barius planned to throw Riana away once he had finished using her, what did he plan for Jig? With Straum dead, Jig had begun to relax. But Straum had never been Jig’s enemy. If not for Barius and the others, Jig would have lived out his life and never once bothered the old dragon. Riana herself had warned that the humans would kill him when they had no further use for their so-called guide.

He started to make plans of his own as he ate. He held no illusions about the prince’s feelings toward him. Given the chance, Barius would kill him. Darnak wouldn’t stop him. Nobody would.

Could he run away? Abandon the treasure and return to the lair? It might work. But if Barius were angry enough, that could also bring the adventurers right back to the goblins’ cavern. Jig didn’t think he would be able to stop the slaughter a second time. The only other choice was to kill Barius now, before he had a chance to do the same to Jig.

He would have to be fast. An attack from behind. Barius was too good with a sword, so a fair fight was out of the question.

Smudge, picking up some hint of Jig’s plans, hopped off his shoulder and crawled into a corner of the room. There he began to build a web, which reinforced Jig’s sense of danger. Fire-spiders used webs not only to capture prey, but also for defense. Smudge was building a place to hide.

If only he knew how Darnak would react. In combat, the dwarf would protect his prince. But would he still feel the need to kill Jig if the prince was already dead? Would he understand why Jig had to kill Barius?

He would have to kill Ryslind as well, he realized. An attack on one brother earned the wrath of both. Though the wizard was half-dead already. That should make things easier.

Jig doubted Darnak would forgive the death of one prince, even if he understood the reasons. If Jig killed them both, he knew what Darnak would do. But if Jig didn’t act, the humans would eventually return, and goblins would die. Adventurers were like fleas. If you didn’t kill them right away, soon the blasted things were leaping into everything.

Jig had to kill them both. But he couldn’t be in two places at once, and Barius was clearly the more dangerous of the two brothers. He would have to kill Barius, then get to Ryslind before Darnak used the new club he had claimed from Straum’s collection to smash Jig’s skull. He had a feeling that this time Shadowstar wouldn’t be able to help him if he failed.