Riana started to reply, but Darnak interrupted, which was probably all that saved the girl from a beating. Barius looked angry enough to loose his temper on anyone who got in his way.

“So how are we to be getting out of this little hole?” Darnak asked. He took the lantern and un-shuttered all four sides. He couldn’t aim the light upward without spilling the oil, but this was enough for them to see the dark shadow of the ceiling. “Looks a good fifteen feet to me. Lucky the ground is softer here.”

“Lucky I landed on your belly and not your hard head, Darnak.” Ryslind grimaced. “I’d have broken bones for certain.”

Darnak grinned. “Aye. Though there’s something to be said for the thickness of human skulls as well. They say it’s the only substance harder than diamond.”

“Enough of your banter,” Barius said. “Brother, can your arts release us from this prison?”

Ryslind took a deep breath. “Give me a moment. Magic requires a clear head, and mine still spins.”

While they waited, Riana walked over to Jig. She studied him with obvious distaste, but when she spoke, her voice was quiet, even respectful. “Thanks.”

“Eh?” Jig blinked, unsure what she meant. He was still a bit dazed by everything that had happened. Worse yet, he had the nagging sense he had forgotten something. The worms were all dead, but still. . . .

“For knocking me out of the way back there.”

“Oh. I saw a carrion-worm catch a rat like that once.” He sighed. Giblet the rat had been a good pet. To this day, he suspected that Porak had deliberately turned Giblet loose by the worm’s nest.

He scowled. Something about pets . . . oh no.

“Smudge!”

He ran at Darnak and tried to pull the lantern away. The dwarf swatted him with his free hand. “Here now, what’s this?”

“My fire-spider’s in there.”

“What?” Darnak held the lantern higher and peered inside. “Ha. So he is. So that’s how you were lighting this thing.”

Very gently, he set the lantern on the ground and slid the glass back. Smudge scurried out, apparently unharmed. He raced away from the lantern like he was fleeing Straum himself. Halfway to the far wall, he stopped and rubbed his legs together, one pair at a time.

“Probably trying to clean off the lantern oil,” Jig said. He knelt and held out one hand for the spider.

Smudge glanced at him. Then, very deliberately, he turned away and continued to groom himself.

“I am ready,” Ryslind announced. He had taken another coil of rope from Darnak’s pack. As the others watched, he sprinkled a bit of blue powder on the rope and began to chant. One end of the rope rose, reminding Jig of the way the carrion-worms had reared up to attack. The rope climbed steadily higher until it reached the ceiling.