Could it be that what the surface-dwellers said about goblins was true? Could goblins be the clumsy, stupid creatures Barius and the others assumed them to be? If so, what did that mean for the fate of Jig’s people? They would never accomplish anything, not if the smallest group of surface-dwellers could slaughter them with such ease. It meant goblins were nothing but a nuisance, existing only to die at the hands of adventurers like this.

No, that wasn’t it. The problem wasn’t the adventurers, but the goblins themselves. They were incapable of working together, of planning or growing. All they could do was charge into battle and get themselves killed. Or in Jig’s case, they could hide and watch from the shadows while the others died.

His people, his entire race, were no more than a joke. Jig had betrayed his captain, letting Porak die for an insult Jig had committed. He was nothing but a worthless coward, the same as every other goblin.

Jig perked his left ear as he heard the faint sound of water lapping the stone shore. His right ear continued to listen for sounds of pursuit. Despite all he had seen, a part of him still couldn’t believe the dreaded hobgoblins wouldn’t come back to finish them off. Depressed or not, he had no desire to let the hobgoblins get their claws on him.

The air was cooler here. A thin green film of moss covered the walls and ceiling, even the edges of the floor. The air smelled like dead fish as they neared the lake.

“How far to this lake?” Barius asked. “I feel as though we’ve passed through half the mountain. ’Twouldn’t surprise me if we found ourselves emerging from the far side.”

“Up ahead,” Jig said, reminding himself that they couldn’t yet hear the water. “Not far.”

“Excellent. Then let us rest here for the night. Assuming it is still night, that is. Who can tell this far underground?”

“It’s nigh about an hour past midnight,” Darnak said without looking up from his map.

“Who but a dwarf, that is?” Barius said, still in high spirits. “We will take turns watching for danger. I shall watch first. Each man takes a shift of one hour. No longer, or you will begin to lose your focus. Darnak, I will awaken you when my shift is up.”

Jig knew without being told that he would not be asked to take a watch. Trust a goblin to protect them in their sleep? Ridiculous. Might as well ask a carrion-worm to stand guard.